Currently Listening: Running on Faith from Eric Clapton, Unplugged
I have been on a rather intense "perfume nostalgia" kick as of late. Particularly I have been drawn to the scents I wore right around the time Hood and I got engaged and married. Laila is one of those scents. Laila, I'm pretty sure, was the scent I wore when we got engaged, but let me back up a bit.
I VIVIDLY remember the day I bought my bottle of Laila. We were working in a newly opened mall outside of Raleigh, NC and my work was 63 steps from Nordstrom. (Think I shopped there a lot?) I had a good working relation ship with one particular fragrance SA (it was fragrances and shoes....still is). I came in to see if there was anything new. I was wearing my black dressed and dress-length jacket that was trimmed in turquoise. (Don't anyone ever tell me that scent and memory aren't closely, CLOSELY linked!) She showed me Laila. Said it was inspired by the wildflowers of Norway. It was extremely pretty and somewhat chilled. Naturally I left with a bottle.
Now onto our engagement. This is how I remember it. It has been over 15 years, and Hood might challenge me on some of the details, but the whole evening was such a fantastic blur. We had talked marriage over, what I'm remembering, was a super fancy early dinner at the Golden Corral. Later that evening, he suggested we go take a walk around campus. I hadn't really spent that much time ON campus, just around it, and thought a walk on campus would be nice. It started dragging me from point to point in a rather rapid pace, and was acting rather odd. It was when we ran into some of his fraternity brothers and he acted REALLY odd that it stuck me, "he's going to propose! OH MY GOD!" And propose he did, in front of the Old Well. Basically THE spot on Carolina's campus.
Over winter break we went back to Carolina's campus and stayed a stone's throw from the Old Well at the Carolin Inn. We took the trip to see the Tar Heel's beat Boston College, visit family, walk around campus, and very importantly eat at Carolina Brewery, Bojangles, and K&W Cafeteria. My time in North Carolina, although brief, was one of the happiest and most care free times in my life and I cherish getting to go back.
Laila is available only online and in Nordstrom stores, so we went back to the Nordstrom store where I purchased my bottle those 15-some years ago. One spritz and a while host of memories came flooding back. It was glorious! White flowers, wildflowers, watermelon and a bit of ice. Gier Ness did a LOVELY job with Lails! It is so innocently alluring. It is somehow simple and complex at the same time. As I'm saving for the big New York City basketball/perfume trip over Spring Break, I did not buy a bottle, but soon my pretties, soon. I did walk out with several self made sample vials to tide me over, and will say that the hand is body cream is exquisite with excellent longevity!
I think I would classify Laila as one of my all times favorites. It's just so lovely, and I have such history to it. It's not generally what I go for, as I tend to lean towards roses and gourmands. Scent is a powerful time machine and this one brings me back to a time and place that I'll always want to stay just a little while longer.
Currently Listening: Layla from Eric Clapton, Unplugged
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