Honestly, I didn’t think it would be a movie that would spur me to write. But that’s the beauty of life, it surprises you. Well, it’s beauty if you like surprises. 🙂 Which I do.
Which is also what happened yesterday (surprise). 🙂 I heard about the movie some time ago and was very prejudiced (hehe) because I love that story and putting zombies into it did not seem like a good idea.
Boy was I wrong!
I’ve been promoting the movie to everyone ever since I watched it, and the question I get is whether it’s a parody. I have no idea what genre this movie is. 😀 Not a parody.
Now I’m wondering if anyone else has seen it and what do you think of it? And if you haven’t seen it, do you think you might? Please try. 🙂
Btw, I actually thought when I wrote again it would be to show some summer/sea photos. I’ll just add some from this weekend now. 😉
A while ago I wrote about whether my collection should contain classics, if only for reference purposes. And lamented the fact that I don’t own a vintage variant of Chanel 5.
Well, that is no longer true. 😀
Like the title says, it seems the perfume gods were really smiling down on me and put half a bottle of vintage Chanel 5 in front of me. I cannot describe my happiness upon coming across it (the story is a bit macabre so I’m not going to share it).
And it smells nothing like the modern variant! Oh, it smells amazing.
The luck didn’t stop there though.
The small collection of perfumes I came across also contained bottles of Balenciaga Michelle, Max Factor Blasé and unopened bottle of Givenchy III that looks like it came from the 80s.
I have to say that the woman whose collection this was obviously had great taste in perfume.
Except for the happiness this brought me, I also came to a conclusion. The Balenciaga perfume house seems to be neglected in the perfume world (or at least by me) because everything I have tried so far was amazing. OK, it was only 3 perfumes that I recall, but randomly trying 3 perfumes from one house and being amazed how great they are is a good sign in my book.
So, I’ll be trying their perfumes some more. If you have any favorites from them, please share.
I dreamt of Chanel 5 last night, and how it smelled great on a woman in my dream. And then (still in the dream) I wanted to try it on myself because I wanted to remind myself of how it smelled. Now I want to do it for real.
Didn’t get to do it in my dream but it got me thinking.
Should I (as a retired perfumista 😀 ) have classics in my collection even though I know they are not really what I would wear?
Because having them would give me an instant reminder of what they smell like and why they are classsics. I would basically need only samples or miniatures for that purpose.
What do you think? I’m leaning towards yes.
The more complicated part is which perfumes would those be? Some of them are so changed from their original formulas that they don’t count, some no longer exist which makes having them an exercise in futility, and what actually constitutes a classic nowadays? A cult following?
I wonder what are your thoughts on the subject and which ones would you recommend?
I listened to a webinar from Scentys today and got very excited! 😀 New technologies generally have that effect on me.
Before today I wasn’t aware of the brand (Scentys) and what they offer. While listening to the webinar I browsed their offer and got hooked up on the home fragrance products they offer.
I will wait for a few days to see if I’m really that captivated with the diffuser and if yes, proceed with procuring it. 😀 I do believe I will eventually give in. I already found the scents I want to try.
Scentys diffuser
But I got sidetracked from the topic.
What caught my attention is the fact that they have developed a new technology that uses IoT and makes diffusers controllable by either a virtual assistant (Alexa), or over a phone app. You can turn it on and off by giving Alexa a command or using your phone. You can also check whether the amount of fragrance in the air is too much and decrease it in that case.
The whole project is still in development stage but I do hope it evolves soon and becomes widely available. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Maybe by the time it becomes widely available, they add spaces for 3 different scents in the diffuser to choose from (without removing one and adding another).
In the meantime, I’ll ruminate some more on the benefits of having a Scentys diffuser (the non-AI, as it is at the moment).
And I already know what I’ll be buying my driving friends for their birthdays. 😉 Luckily, none of them read my blog. 😀
I decided to participate in an impromptu series of other bloggers (Vanessa, Tara and Undina) and must say it was fun to think about the 15 bottles I would hurriedly gather. The only problem being they are not in the same place but let’s ignore that part. 😉
I had a problem with the last place. It was a tie between two perfumes so instead, I added an imaginary bottle (a perfume I wish I had).
In no particular order but how they appeared in my mind (and two are decants but I would grab them instead of a bottle of something else).
Guerlain Shalimar
Guerlain Jicky
Guerlain Cruel gardenia (yes, I see a pattern here) 😀
That’s how I see it. I talked to a friend today and said how this is the year everyone will remember for the rest of their lives. We all have some years that stand out in our minds because events happened that made them memorable in some way. But this year is the memorable one for everyone.
What I want to say is that it shouldn’t be memorable because it’s a bad one. I mean, it obviously is, but for me it feels like the year that will be a stepping stone for humanity to learn more about itself and how we can improve the way we live. Maybe it’s naive of me to think that, but it usually takes hitting rock bottom before we realize something needs to change andthen we can start climbing back up.
With all the bad news around us, it is obvious the world has hit rock bottom. The amount of lies, hipocrisy, evil, and power-grabbing that surrounds us is finally coming to light and I think that is a good thing. Because once you know the problems, you can try and fix them. And, astrologically speaking (some of you know that I’m into it), the truth of these matters is only going to come bubbling up to the surface more and more.
Let’s discover a better world
I’ve been working from home most of the year and will continue to do so for quite some time yet. It gave me a lot of time to think and some of those thoughts is what I’m now sharing with you. It was a difficult year and I can’t say I was happy throughout most of it, but it gave me the opportunity to learn more about myself and my reactions, and to learn to accept myself and the world around me. One of the things I realized is that I miss talking to my friends and generally having meaningful conversations, whether online or in person. I miss having a hobby that gives a spark to my life. I somehow lost all that during previous years but this year is what gave me the time to think about all that, how and why it happened, and gave me the strength to try and find it again.
Here is where I’ll finish my ramblings. 🙂 I promise, my next post will be happy and sunny.
Although on the outside it looks like a normal summer weekend’s day. But for me it feels special.
After a long time, I finally feel enthusiasm regarding a new perfume release. I’m blaming Cookie Queen and Tara for this one. But I’m already in love with the idea of that perfume. I love the name, I almost love all the notes, and as it’s a Chanel Exclusif (I love several of them), I don’t think this one will disappoint. I can finally say I’m eagerly awaiting to try a new perfume.
And then, in the middle of reading that review, I receive a post pingback. That hasn’t happened in a long time. It turns out my Shalimar habit stuck with Undina and now she has a post up about other possible nightly perfume habits we (perfume lovers) might have. You can go and take a look at what other people think of wearing perfume to bed.
To end my perfume-related day, the cake I made for a friend’s birthday turned out great. I’m mentioning the cake now because I received the recipe several years ago from another perfume blogger.
That is why it feels like a special day – everything today seems to be saying it’s time to enjoy the perfume world again.
P.S. Now that I look at my post it seems to be all over the place. 🙂 But who cares, it’s a perfume-world day for me.
Although it’s not actually quarantine (at least I don’t think so), even though it feels like it after 5 weeks of working from home and rarely leaving my apartment the last three weeks. I think. Days and weeks pass away and they all look the same.
So while at home, although not having as much free time as everyone seems to think people do (I mean we work from home, my days do not suddenly have a whole bunch of free time), I felt like writing a bit about the perfume related thoughts I’ve been having.
As you can assume, being at home most of the time, I don’t really apply perfume much (almost at all). But I’ve come to all sorts of realizations.
I guess it happened the world over, the search for disinfectants and rubbing alcohol. I wasn’t searching for the alcohol as I had a small bottle at home, but when my mum asked if I can find any, I gave her mine. Several days after that, it dawned on me that I have a lifetime supply of alcohol. 🙂
I saw the perfumes in my hallway.
So, now I have no worries when it comes to running out of rubbing alcohol as both eau de toilettes and eau de parfums contain more alcohol than it does.
Which brings me to the fact that my phone now smells phenomenal. 😀 I’ve been using Jicky to disinfect it with.
My bottle of Jicky
Continuing the Jicky train of thought, my soap is lavender which incidentally doesn’t remind me so much of Jicky, but of Shalimar. I don’t know why my nose makes that jump, but I think it might be the reverse engineering. I remember, quite some time ago, when I recognized traces of Shalimar in Jicky. I wonder now if the fact that lavender soap comes smelling sweetly of vanilla, my nose is going reverse on the perfumes.
And now while checking to see if I ever wrote about Jicky or Shalimar, I came across this great post. At least I think it is great . 😀
Once more a big thanks to Asali for coming up with ideas for it.
That’s how I know it now, as the Renaissance city.
And it makes sense, once you take the Renaissance tour and hear the amazing history of Firenze. When I say amazing, I don’t mean it was all nice but it was definitely colorful and had a profound impact on the world at large forever (Firenze was once the economic center of the world). And that history wouldn’t have happened without the influence of the Medici family. I knew about them but I really wasn’t aware of the enormity of their legacy.
I am not going to go into detail regarding that, if you’re ever in Florence, you can take the tour and learn for yourself (my guide was Silvie and as a side note, she sings amazingly).
That’s a bit of Silvie while taking a pic at Medice palace
I want to write so many things about my three days there and not make it too long but give you as many highlights as possible.
I’ll just do a quick run-through of what stands out the most in my mind.
Be ready for a horde of tourists. Going to all the famous Florentine places like the Academy, the Dome and the Pitti palace. The best thing you can do for those is book tickets online and be there when you’re supposed to be. I didn’t know my timetable so didn’t do that and only saw those places from the outside.
Which didn’t bother me that much because I saw many other places from the inside and looking back, you can’t choose wrong with so many interesting places to visit.
Speaking of those places, ticket to any of them is between 8-10 Euros.
My selection of churches were Basilica San Marco (and the accompanying museum), Santa Croce, and Santa Maria Novella. Of the three, San Marco is the least interesting and the smallest but has a certain coziness (it actually got me to stay and listen to Italian mass as the girl playing the organ did it so lovely, and then sang lovely as well).
San MarcoLibrary at San Marco
Santa Croce is where many famous people are buried (Galileo, Machiavelli, Dante…) but it’s the worth the visit for the beauty of the place itself. Like Santa Maria Novella as well.
Dante’s graveSanta Maria Novella
Which brings me to Santa Maria Novella Profumo which definitely deserves a post of its own (and is getting one). I want to say go there if you’re in Florence but be warned, money just flies out of your hands there.
My last day in Florence was the best one even though I walked 21 km. I still feel that in my legs. 😀
Anyway, a little warning, even though the Gardens of Boboli are beautiful and worth the visit, nobody tells you they are on a hill. A steep hill. So, if you plan on walking through most of the garden, be aware it’s a serious exercise. Which is why I think everyone at Palazzo Pitti was probably fit.
View from the garden towards Palazzo PittiGo down the garden and then you have to come up – it’s steeper than it looks here
Which brings me to the next hilly destination – Piazzale Michelangelo. Amazing view, quite breathtaking to get there. 😉
View from Piazalle Michelangelo
The last two places of my last day just plain made me happy. Climbing the Tower of Palazzo Vecchio and visiting the museum there and then visiting this little wine shop/wine tasting place. The owner is very knowledgeable and will do her best to offer you wine to taste according to your preference. I was amazed by the wines she gave me to try. I definitely recommend visiting her place – Antica Bottega A.D. 1264.
View from the TowerAntica Bottega A.D. 1264
It’s funny how the first two days I only walked through the flat part of the city and then left the last day for all the climbing. 🙂
Sometimes I don’t think things through. 😉 But at least I have fun. I loved my time in Florence. 🙂
I can’t believe it took me so long to finally see this movie. And then it happened by accident. I guess some things find you at the right time which is what I think happened here.
Like the movie that found me, the book hasn’t yet so I don’t know how much justice the movie does it, but in my case it doesn’t really matter. I connected with the story quite well.
Yes, I had some thoughts on the general possibility of just quitting your daily life and leaving for a year to learn about food and meditation for a normal person. Many of us cannot afford something like that even though I think we all would love to be able to do it.
But that in my opinion is not the point of the story. For me, the point is to be brave enough to follow your heart even though everyone else thinks you’re crazy. To put it mildly. 🙂 The problem, though, is that most of us can’t hear what our heart is actually saying.
Ok, I’ll re-phrase myself. Maybe the bravest thing is to be willing to hear what your heart is telling you because that might (actually should) lead you on your soul’s quest. And honestly, how many of us are brave enough to leave our comfort zones to follow the path that is uniquely ours? Even if that journey will bring new friends into our lives and experiences that will make us more complete? Because embarking on such a journey is always a risk and never comes without its own pitfalls to drag you back into your comfort zone.
All I am - a redhead 