Monday, October 29, 2012

Orange Blossom Cuddles: By Kilian's Love

*Current Fragrance: Love from By Kilian
*Currently Listening: Ain't That A Kick In The Head by Dean Martin

To me By Kilian's Love is Orange Blossom that has been dipped in almond extract laced agave nectar, then sprinkled with sugar then wrapped in some sort of cream colored cashmere throw. Is that enough for a blog entry? Thought not.

NO WONDER I love it: Calice Becker (one of my all time favorites) is the perfumer!!! Naturally. I hadn't really given Love too many thoughts, as I thought that is was going to be too sweet for me. How it ended up, was deliciously snuggly. Here's how it happened....

From buying my Back to Black refills earlier in the week, I was given quite a few Kilian samples that spent the week handing out in my handbag. As I was getting ready for dinner last night, and as usual running behind but with no particular fragrance in mind...I reached into the little organza bag and pulled out Love. Done. I have a scent of the evening!

I spritzed it on, and really kind of liked it. As Al and I were waiting for the train, this conversations broke out:
Me, "Hey. I'm wearing a new perfume tonight. What do you think?"
Al, "Smells really nice. What is it called?"
Me, "Love."
Al, (in typical fashion) "OK then."

I continued to fall for it's non-cloying sweetness as were went to dinner with a friend visiting from "the home land" at La Dolce Vita. Perhaps it was solely the perfume, perhaps it was the wine, or perhaps it was my deep and longstanding love for pignoli cookies...Love really hit its' stride at Modern Pastry.
And an apple caramel macaroon for good measure as well!
It seamed to attach itself to every single almond scented molecule in the joint and just bloom smell wise. (OM, NOM, NOM!) I remembering thinking to myself, "My arm smells like something I should dip in espresso!" (Oh, the things I think but just don't say out loud!!!) I do, however, go back to my original statement: By Kilian's Love is Orange Blossom that has been dipped in almond extract laced agave nectar, then sprinkled with sugar then wrapped in some sort of cream colored cashmere throw.

It smells like cuddling and sweet (early) kisses. It's subtitle is Don't Be Shy, so it makes perfect sense. Didn't really expect to like this one, but boy oh boy sis I sure like it. It's perfectly for when you want to be swaddled, but not in a sweet floral way and not a vanilla-amber sort of way.

I'm cozied up in it again today as Al and I enjoy a little Sandy based stay-cation and we watch the winds whip by.

What was the last perfume that surprised you in this way? Thought you weren't going to like it, but you ended up having a bit of a love affair with it? Also, what are your cuddle and swaddle worthy scents? Share with me in the comments.

*Currently Listening: Beyond the Sea by Kevin Spacey
**Photo Credits: My own

Friday, October 26, 2012

Of Ben Folds Five, Burberry, and Feeling Free

*Current Fragrance: Boyfriend from Kate Walsh
*Currently Listening: One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces from Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five
A few weeks ago Al and I, along with Pretty Pretty Princess and Boyfriend of Pretty Pretty Princess, went to go see Ben Folds Five at the House of Blues. Al and I had gone to see Ben Folds with the Boston Pops a few years with Bartles and James and had an AMAZING time. We never thought we'd have the opportunity to see the original trio live, so when we did...we jumped at the opportunity!


Al went to college in Chapel Hill where the band got its start, so you can see why he likes them so much. (I get this nice nostalgic twinge ever time I hear a smidgen of the North Carolinian accent in Ben Folds' voice.) My emotional association with the group is a little more complex and convoluted. You see...I ran away from home, to start my new home and new life in North Carolina with Al. Not something I would recommend for everyone, but for me - it certainly worked. I've always associated Ben Folds Five with this time period, here's why.

Two or three days after moving to NC, which included moving in with Al and his two post college (sorta) fraternity brother roommates, I decided I was going to get in their good graces by making them a good and balanced home cooked meal. For me the contains marinated chicken breast, rice and green beans. Al must have gotten a ride to work that day, because I had his car at my disposal. I remember turning on the car and the Whatever and Ever Amen album was on. Either Battle of Who Could Care Less or One Angry Dwarf & 200 Solemn Faces was placing, both of those give me such freedom filled feelings. (Say THAT five times fast!) Once I got to the grocery store however, I wasn't sure I was going to STAY in North Carolina....$3 for a can of green beans!?!?!? I had mucked up Al's directions somehow, and ended up at the Whole Foods instead of Harris Teeter. Sadly, or perhaps not so sadly, I don't think I'd be that shocked by a $3 can of green beans here in Boston!

Ben Folds

Away from green beans and back to Ben Folds Five. I've always associated the music with my time in Chapel Hill and year and a half in North Carolina. I smile listening to Kate knowing that I've been at a particular intersection that he sings about in the city and feel a weird, WEIRD connection knowing that the Planned Parenthood where I got my birth control was most likely the place that they went to in the narrative of Brick, also...Ben Folds Five is nerd rock. I have decided that those are my people.

A few days before the concert I was straightening my hair, listening to my Ben Folds Five playlist on my iPhone, and the scent of Burberry for Women. OooooooKkkkkkk, my brain thought, and then it hit me....Burberry was what I was wearing perfume wise when I "ran away" to North Carolina. Thank you music and your highly associative properties plus the small degree of synesthesia I'm convinced I posses.

I haven't smelled Burberry in YEARS, but it's VERY distinctly in my "minds nose". There's an element of coziness and comfort to Burberry - a cedar drenched, musky vanilla. Plus there's blackcurrant and green apple: and if a fragrance has blackcurrant, given it's not straight up Raspberry Hoe Juice, I will like it! Burberry is like eating a delicious fruit pit on Christmas morning right after you've opened all your gifts and you've slipped that new snuggley sweater over your PJs. Oh yeah, the pie is left over from Christmas Eve dinner, the flavors have had plenty of time to meld. Damn....now I want a bottle! It's been...eh, a little over ten years. Well....Christmastime IS a-comin'!

I really feel lucky  to have fragrances and music to bring me back to places and instances. I really think it is so much more powerful than a photo or a spoken remembrance.

Care to share some of your transporters, be it auditory and olfactory? Share in the comments below.

*Currently Listening: Army from Ben Folds Five
**Photo Credits: All images my own

Monday, October 22, 2012

L'Eau Pour Le Cheveux Nouveaux

*Current Fragrance: The Smell of Freedom from Gorilla Perfume
*Currently Listening: Man In The Box by Alice in Chains.

I hope my bad French is correct-ish! Nonetheless, buh-bye red, and hello (what I am calling) mocha!

I went from caca rouge to caca noir yesterday! I wanted something dark and different for deep Fall/ Winter. Maybe taking a bit of off from the red will make me a little less fiery and temperamental and more sophisticated and mysterious. (Here's hoping.)



Hoping for a Patti Labelle-esque "New Attitude" - I think my new do requires some new fragrances to contemplate/highlight its hued qualities. Please offer up your suggestions and why in the comments. I might even have a little present for the one I end up liking the most!

I will say, this new do has had me feeling very Back to Black already, which I'm planning on picking up tomorrow. :)

*Currently Listening: Glycerine by Bush
**All photos my own

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Smells Like Immortality

Since so much of what I write about here on No Disassemble Charlie No. 5 is about connecting smell to loved ones (many of which are no longer with us), I thought this would fitting to post on here. No matter what your religious views are, I'm pretty sure my wise friend Keaton's thoughts about passing things down will ring true. I hope reading this gives you reason to pause and think and reflect, as well as share you as see fit. Also, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Thank you, Keaton for writing this amazing, though-provoking piece: and I'm sorry it was brought about by sorrowful circumstances.

Death in 2,163 Words.

Yesterday, after having spent the vast majority of my time over the past two days sitting in the ICU waiting room, I had the exceedingly rare experience of saying what I thought would be my final goodbyes to my last remaining grandmother. I have not had the opportunity to speak with my other grandparents before they left because their various medical conditions rendered them unconscious. That situation sort of makes you a bystander, or just someone who is powerless to affect the environment around them, waiting for the end to come. And it does come- sometimes peacefully, sometimes violently, but always inevitably. My grandmother is fortunate because she is in the rare position of being cognizant of her surroundings, being in control of her situation, and being able to decide just how she wants to meet the end. What quiet, dignified strength she possesses! She was undoubtedly the least emotional person in our little universe of people waiting for the end to finally come.

As I stood at her bedside, holding her hand, mumbling and trying to find the right words, the only thing I could find to say were the words, “Thank you for being who you are and who you’ve been your whole life.” At the time, I couldn’t wrap my brain around why that statement would appear so clearly in an ocean of possible things to tell this great woman. Surely I should have said something like, “I love you so very much,” or, “You don’t worry about a thing. We’re all here, and we’ll take care of everything. We all love you,” or some other endless variation of that statement. So why, why did I feel the need to thank her? The real haymaker question is this: why did it feel so very RIGHT to thank her?

As I drove home, the answer to this question slammed into my brain, and thoughts stemming from that answer came in waves, crashing into me one by one by one…

I find that death is ultimately more about the people being left behind than the person who is leaving. Sure, a group of people, standing or sitting in a hospital waiting room, or standing around a bed in a private home, are there to celebrate the life and mourn the passing of someone who has touched their own lives. We love the people leaving us. But, invariably, we find ourselves thinking about our own, personal relationships with that person. We dwell on the emptiness and the loss that we will feel after our loved one is gone. We have dignified services with kind speakers and lots of flowers; some nice religious man or woman says words to comfort those affected by their loved ones’ departures. In the end though, the loved ones go into the ground, or into the fire, or into the tomb and everyone leaves. Those words and flowers and tears and condolence cards are NOT for the departed, but the living they left behind. What use does a dead person have for flowers? None, of course. No, ultimately all those things we do after someone leaves us are expressions of the living, for the benefit of the living.

Humans like the idea that this life, this everyday life we spend driving, sleeping, drinking, singing, etc… is just a transitory phase of existence. We like to think that we are all immortal. Some believe we have a soul that departs our worldly body, goes to a place with pearly gates and gilded streets, to spend the next eternity on our knees worshiping someone we’ve never met. And let’s not forget the alternative: being cast into a burning, sulfurous lake of fire, spending the next bit of eternity paying for these bad things we do in this transitory, “everyday driver” life of ours. There are other variations. Some believe that our soul departs the body and enters it’s next life, perhaps as an ant, or a tree, or a fruit fly, in an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Yesterday’s ants are today’s people, and today’s people are tomorrow’s great white sharks; that the amount of life in this world is FINITE. Fixed. There are no more souls in this world today than there was when it winked into existence long, long ago. Ancient cultures tended to believe that the departed could take whatever he/she wished to the afterlife with them. Elysium, Valhalla, Heaven, Hell, the River Styxx… all represent places that humans have believed the soul travels to after death. The only thing any of these ideas have in common is our preference to believe in the immortality of human beings- this life just can’t be all there is, there must be somewhere, some place we go from here. We believe this because the alternative is nothingness- oblivion; the total destruction of your life force. It is a very unpleasant idea.

What I came to see on my drive home is that I don’t really believe in any of that nonsense. Gilded streets, life as a great white shark, Elysium… pleasant thoughts all, but ultimately these ideas are just another way to get around dealing with a stark reality: we are all going to die, and that’s the only thing that is certain in this world.

You might, at this thought ask yourself, “What’s the point, then?” but the answer occurs to you almost immediately. You live your life so that those who come after you will have a better life. The thing that makes human beings the top of the food chain is not opposable thumbs, or bi-pedal walkability, but our ability to use our minds. Perhaps the lion could be the top of the food chain, the supreme animal on the planet, if only he could figure out how to build a gun, or plant a crop, or farm antelope. But he can’t; he doesn’t have the capacity. Only humans have that ability to use their brains to change their environment, and since our beginnings, humans have changed the world for one purpose: make the world better, easier for those that come after.

The first cavemen had it really bad: harsh, hostile environments, limited knowledge on how to get food or make shelter, no tools… It must have been a really low quality environment. But, slowly, that caveman uses his mind, creates ideas to change his situation. He goes from surviving to thriving. He changed his environment- but then something spectacular happened. He invents the paintbrush, uses his environment to make paint, and draws pictures on his cave wall to give instructions on how to hunt to his sons. He passes on his knowledge. Eventually, all this knowledge forms a system of values, based on what is “good.” Hunt this animal this way, so you don’t get killed. Build a fire like this, because if you don’t, your measly fire will go out and you’ll be cold and you and your family will die. There are probably thousands of examples. The enormity of this caveman’s actions cannot be overstated. Just imagine if he hadn’t taught his son all these things…

These days, we don’t struggle for things like food and shelter, for the most part. Our value systems have made procuring these necessities very efficient. Of course, we still value these things at our very core, but we don’t worry about it as much as that first caveman. Today we value other things, and these values have spawned radical changes in the environment. We value things like the ability to travel long distances more quickly, which has spawned the wheel, then the cart, then the carriage, then the bicycle, then the car, then the airplane, then the jet, then the space shuttle. Who knows what’s next in that chain of inventions? Another thing we value is communication. That led to the invention of speech, then writing, then scrolls, then books, then the mail system, then the telegraph, then the telephone, then the computer, then the internet, then the smart phone… It just goes on and on, in millions of little examples like these. And each of these examples comes from very simple values. Values- they make the world go around.

I’ve come to realize that who I am is entirely made up of the values of the people who have come before me, particularly the members of my family. Sure, we pick up other values from the environment and other people around us in a kind of “interpersonal value sharing” that allows new ideas to be injected (sometimes forcefully) into existing family value structures, but the VAST majority of anyone’s values comes from his/her family. That statement seems small, but is not. That statement is the sum total of every human being alive.

 I’ve received many values from my mother and father, most of which I accept, but some I reject. This rejection is what keeps me from being carbon copies of my siblings. I also receive values from the culture and environment in which I live, but these usually get accepted or rejected based on those values I’ve received from my family which act as a filter of sorts. For instance, my father values hard work, using reason to solve problems, politeness, responsibility, and many others. I value these things as well, in myself mostly, but in other people too. My acceptance or rejection of the cultural and environmental values is based on these core family values passed on to me by my mother and father, and their parents, and their parents’ parents, and their parents’ parent’s parents, and so forth. There are literally thousands of people who have contributed to the value system that is Keaton Watson. In fact, that line goes all the way back to that caveman inventing the paint brush and drawing pictures on the wall.

What I have in my mind now is a person running, bearing a torch. He runs and runs, and eventually closes in on the next runner in line, who is bearing an unlit torch himself. As our running men come together, they touch their torches together, igniting the second torch. The next runner then begins his own leg of the journey. Their torches are different, look different, feel different, but the fire is the same. Now imagine billions, trillions even, of these running men and women, each bearing their own torch, handing the flame to the next in line. That flame is what illuminates the entire world.

Now, I can go back to my grandmother in her hospital bed, and my final farewell to her. Her body is dying, failing her, after having been her faithful companion for 88 enormous years. In those 88 years she’s created life, shared love, compassion, and wit with the world around her. She has, just by being alive, improved the quality of our world. She has also experienced great loss and pain. Her husband, her best friend of more years than she can count, died 11 years ago.  She’s very tired. She is, at her core, lonely.  She wants to sleep. She’s refused the dialysis treatment that would prolong her life. She’s choosing her own end. “No more pain, no more fighting… Just sleep, rest,” she says. She’s content with this, comfortable with the idea of eternal sleep. She wants nothing more, needs nothing more, and can give nothing more to this world. She’s completed her leg of the journey and has already passed her flame to the next torch bearers. She feels complete.

While I don’t believe that my grandmother has an external soul, bound for some journey to a distant planet, or place with gilded streets, or needs any money for the boatman, I do see now that the value system that is my grandmother will live forever. She is immortal. She is immortal because her values are my values. She lives on through me. All of my grandparents do- and all their parents, and all their parents’ parents… Ideas, values… they can’t die with a body. You can’t shoot them with a gun, cut them with a knife, or run them over in a car. Values don’t get cancer. They will all live on through me, my kids, and my kids’ kids’, and my kids’ kids’ kids for infinity. My grandparents, whom I’ve known and loved all my life will live forever. And perhaps some of the values my grandparents held, that my parents hold, that I hold, will affect this world in some positive way. Maybe my descendants will be teachers, or inventors, or writers who are just changing their environment and improving the quality of their world. If the human race figures out how to travel to distant planets, and one of my descendants end up changing the environment on another world, well then me, my brothers and sister, my parents, my grandparents will be right there with them- our values giving little mental and emotional nudges towards a quality we all strive for.

We are every one of us, immortal.


*Reprinted with permission by the author.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

On Meeting Kilian

*Current Fragrance: Good Girl Gone Bad and burning my Back to Black candle both from By Kilian
*Currently Listening: T'inquiete! by MC Solaar

Kilian Hennessy and I.

It has been exactly eleven months and sixteen dasy since I fell head over heals for my beloved Liaisons Dangereuses, so you can imagine my delight when my favorite SAKS SA Ellen let me know that Kilian Hennessy would be visiting my local SAKS. SIGN ME UP!!!!! (I would actually go TOTAL FAN GIRL if I ever had to opportunity to meet its perfumer, Calice Becker...TOTAL FAN GIRL!)

As with any good thing in this world, there has to be considerable effort put into whatever "It" it is. In this case, it was the choice of outfit (I went with black jersey shirt-dress, avocado green scarf, aubergine lightweight cardigan, new Tory Burch black flats, Dior purse and a few spritzed of Liaisons Dangereuses), and the COMMUTE IN FROM HELL! This commute ended in my train breaking down four stops from my house and my having to hail a cab. I should mention that the cabbie asked me if the SAKS I was going to was uptown or downtown. EVERYTHING is downtown from where I live. *shakes head*

My appointment to meet Mr. Hennessy was the first of the day at 10am (I DID have to work at noon....). I actually really love department stores that early in the morning. The beauty of all the merchandise in a not-yet-touched by the masses setting. I find it oh-so-civilized!! Plus, I think it reminds me of shopping on Saturday morning with my Grandma Byrd and Aunt Lou.

In the Garden of Good and Evil: A modern metaphor of the myth of the original sin.
Kilian himself was delightful to chat with, not to mention VERY easy on the eyes! (I felt like a little school girl at times, but did my best to reign it it.) I could have let myself drown in his accent: French plus something else in there that I couldn't put my finger on, but it was definitely delectable. We chatted about all of the series (if you will) that he has done, spending the majority of the (no in Pre-Sale) In the Garden of Good and Evil.

I really enjoyed talking through all the details with him. Like it is the calligraphers symbol on the front of the box (I think it was the box) of both Water Calligraphy and Bamboo Harmony, to changing the color for In the Garden of Good and Evil from black to white to make things pure. The new etching on the side of the bottle is lovely. He explained in in detail the symbolism of each pre-sale, I wish I could remember everything; I should have recorded, but that seamed invasive. I DO remember that he got particularly animated about the top of the etching with the snakes in a heart around the apple.

I'm very excited about the scents!! I thought to myself going in, "If they're based off the Garden of Eden, there's an apple...and apple means fruit. Perhaps we're going to get more Byredo's Pulp-esque and less Raspberry Hoe Juice!" When Kilian started talking about the fruit accords and wanting them to come across as luxurious and well done, I wanted to throw my arms around him and give him a bit hug. Well, that and he smelled and sounded DELICIOUS (he was wearing In the City of Sin); however discretion was the better part of valor and I just wholeheartedly agreed. See...I DO have some shreds of self control, people! ;-)

I will pen a review of all three of the fragrances, which I like very much, but not today. I will say this: if Malle has his Carnal Flower - these will be Kilian's "Carnal Fruits". That, and some DELICIOUSLY effective use of honey - but it never goes in gourmand territory on me. I am also IN LOVE with added detail of the "box" for the perfume be a snake embellished clutch. I LOVE snake accessories! Also, if you know me, even just a little, you know that after perfume comes purses. I WILL be buying a bottle of either Good Girl Gone Bad or Forbidden Games!


Signing my candle. Perfection. Seriously, could anything ever go wrong at SAKS? Audrey can have her Tiffany's.
For my purchase for Kilian to sign, I chose a Back to Black candle. I figured its honeyed tobacco was something that Al and I could both enjoy as the weather turns more and more into the weather of the three C's: cuddle, candle, and cocoa! New England, you're the best!


Yesterday was not the best of days for me. My carpal tunnel (which hadn't bothered me in a year and a 1/2) decided to act up in my dominant hand and I worse my brace to work which made for a pretty interesting day. I got home and was greeted by with Al with, "you have a box from Texas and some mail from I think France."


It in fact WAS mail from France! You should go like the Kilian Facebook page. That way you'll get mail from France for the next release!

*Currently Listening: Kill Kill Kill by DJ Vadim
**All images my own

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Blog Life Support





Dear Darling Readers,

 I think I need a bit of blog-o-therapy! I feel as though my blog is on life support. Life's been a bit busier than normal lately, and want WANT and focus to write has been a little sad. I need some support from you, lovely readers. Is what I write "worth it"? Do you enjoy reading my blog? Does it somehow make your day a little bit brighter? I started NDC#5 so I could have a creative outlet and write about something I adore: perfume. I just feel like I need to send my blogging-self to rehab. Any of you bloggers have advice? Have you been there before? Pep-talks and general loving praising is readily accepted!

Love,

Kathleen

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Dear Charlie 2.0

Dear Charlie,

What's With the name of your blog?

This one is fun, and one part sentimental, one part silly; as I explained in NDC#5's inaugural post! But I've copy and pasted the good stuff for you to read here. ENJOY!

Love,

"Charlie"


So here we are. Back to perfume.... I'm going to write about perfume. Perfume through my Joseph's-coat-of-many-colors-type-glasses. I have some very strong AND hysterical memories tied to scent and perfume, so I think it's going to be interesting to someone other than myself.

So the title. "No Disassemble Charlie No. 5"!?!?! Kathleen...what the hell is going on with that? Let me explain...it has to do with two of my earliest perfume associated memories.


As a girl, my mom wore Charlie as her perfume, and if you're somewhere between the ages of 30 & 35 (like I am - I seriously forget how old I am, and this is by design, so I don't obsess over it. That makes me sound daft, perhaps I should have just disclosed that...), I'm sure your Mom did too. As a little girl, I would sit indian-style on the floor outside of the bathroom (most likely singing something at the TOP of my lungs) in our mobile home (yep, mobile home) and adoringly watch her put on her makeup, fix her hair, and then spritz Charlie at the very end. I would smile in delight as the tiniest geranium, jasmine, rose, mossy woods, sandalwood, oakmoss, and musk scented droplets hit my skin. I didn't smell like a little girl anymore, I smelled like a GROWN UP LADY! I smelled like my Mom....and THAT was awesome! I also had this little habit (Mom, in case you're wondering what was really happening) of stealing my Mom's perfume bottles. Not full bottles, like...when they had a millimeter of two of liquid left in them...I'd tuck them away in my room where my Mom wouldn't find them (I remember a favorite hiding place of bottle was under the pillow in the crib for my baby dolls), but only after I sprayed all of my Barbie's hair w/ Charlie. (Wow! I was SUCH a girl!)


The other one takes me out to the country. My paternal grandparents lived Magnolia Spring, TX on a farm...I use the term farm loosely. We refereed to it as The Farm. They had a garden...(which I would directly pull the carrots from the ground and try to eat them, dirt and all. My mother insisted on a intermediary step, of me swiping them back and forth a few times of my courdery pants - complete w/ rainbow patches sewn on the back -before eating them. Yes, I had an orange nose from time to time as a child.)....and when I was quite young, horses. But I digress. I have a very strong memory of my Granny LeBlanc (for who her standing Christmas gift from me was a spray bottle of Designer  Imposter's "Primo")....I was in the bathroom where she kept her perfumes, and I ran across a bottle of Chanel No. 5. I think I was about 6 or 7.  I remember I was smelling it, thinking "Hmmmm...Granny doesn't really smell like this..." About that time she walking in and I was caught! She smiled, took the bottle from me, clicked the black cap monogrammed w/ the interlocking white "c's" back on the bottle, and as she placed the bottle back on the shelf said, "Kathleen, ladies don't wear Chanel until they're at least 50, remember that." Looking back, I'm going to guess she meant Chanel No. 5, but still...I still haven't managed to buy myself any Chanel perfume, thinking it would be a gate-way drug of sorts. This has also fueled my odd reverence towards Chanel. As many strolls as I've made past the one in Boston, I've only been one Chanel boutique, and it was in NYC, to buy nail polish - which is also linked to my Granny (but that's another story). This Chanel boutique was directly adjacent to a Dior boutique...my head almost exploded. Again...another story, for another time....


So, there we go. WAIT! "No Disassemble" ask you? I grew up in the 80's Remember "Short Circuit", right? "No Disassemble Johnny No. 5!" right? (I'd post a YouTube clip, but the site isn't working. YouTube is down!?! The world may be ending. I'm glad I have canned food and bottled water left over from "Hurricane" Irene!

**Photo Credit: badhaven.com

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

I'm Back! And Talkin' Snuggly Candles!

Not my cats, they'd never allow me to take a pic of them doing this! NEVER!!!!
I'm baaaaaaaaack!!!! No point in saying much about my absence other than work has been wicked busy! (WOW! Guess I really do live in Boston!!) Oh yeah, and if I owe your a sample-y thing from a giveaway, it's coming. Promise!!

One big thing that did happen, at least in New England, during my little blogging break was this: Indian Summer flipped away into Full Blown Fall! The colder weather is the weather for me! I actually tend to prefer winter, but that's not the point. As I was walking home from the train last night, I couldn't help but think, "This is all out cuddle weather!!"

Nothing says cuddle weather more to me than CANDLES! Actually it's equal with a cuddle partner and hot cocoa! (All three TOTALLY necessary!) For Fall/Winter scents - in general - if it smells like it comes piping hot in a glass, mug, or pipe (but NOT the swirly colored kind you find in a Head Shop)...I'm sold! Oh yeah...also if it smells like Old Stone Church! More of all of those for another time!

Currently in the burning rotation in my apartment are Apple Crumble from Bath and Body Works and Back to Black from By Kilian.

Did I mention mine was signed? Another blog entry about that to come. PROMISE!!!!
I find both of these candles to be extremely snuggly. Apple Crumble is that apple pie that's not over sweetened so you can, you know...ACTUALLY EAT IT! Back to black is a woman in super sexy lingerie (I'm thinking of my local Agent Provocateur window)...her womanly sweetness lingering with his super high quality tobacco that has he tamps it into his pipe.

What are your favorite candle scents to snuggle to? Also, I'm looking for some good incense/churchy scents for Fête des Lumières in early December. Ideas anyone? Share both in the comments!

**Photo Credits: 1) dragonflyheart.deviantart.com 2) My own