Scents of Self

I am someone who love, love, loves perfume. It's not just the scents, it's the people and places that they bring to mind. My grandmother is sweet and classic: L'Air du Temps. I can always smell it on her neck when she hugs me. When I was very young, my father took us to church on Sunday mornings, and I used to squeeze in next to him for warmth. His blazer would smell like Chaps, and for a very long time I thought that was just how dad's nice clothes smelled. My mother loves Arpege, but I don't have any memories of her smelling quite so fancy. Instead, I remember the spicy smell of Bay Rum hanging in the air of my bedroom after she had kissed me goodbye in the morning.

I love perfume bottles; some are delicate and classic, some are funky, some are sophisticated. I love how they look sitting on a vanity or a dresser or a bathroom counter. When I was young pefume seemed to be one of those delights of womanhood, like high heels and makeup. I couldn't wait to be a part of such a glamorous world. And I haven't really changed. I still love to dress up and I love to put on a scent that makes me feel, well, however I want to feel that day.

I own 5 different kinds of perfume, not to mention several bottles of body mist and perfumed lotions. Depending on my mood, I might wear a different scent each day of the week. Or I might be loyal to one fragrance for an entire season. In the spring and summer I love the cotton candy smell of Falling in Love by Philosophy or the fruity punch of Love Spell. If it's a special night I go for the citrusy deliciousness of Gucci Envy Me. In the fall I can't wait to exchange the sweet and light for the rich and musky: Euphoria or Angel. These pair nicely with a sweater and boots. Today I'm wearing Heaven, a Gap scent. I first discovered this subtle, slightly musky smell in junior high thanks to my friend Abby. It was a few years before I bought my own bottle and, although I like it fine, I only wear it occasionally. It's what I wear when I'm dressed down and laid back. It's good for hoodies and tennis shoes.

My husband calls all of my bottles of perfume my "foo foo juice." Still, I catch him sniffing my hair quite often and smiling. My mother calls me a girlie girl and still isn't sure how the daughter of someone who only occasionally wears Love's Lemon Fresh (the Bay Rum ran out years ago) could have such an infatuation with perfume. I think that what it really comes down to is that any scent can become part of a memory. Catching a whiff of a certain smell, be it perfume or cologne or even fabric softener can be enough to transport you to another time and place. I bet I could name a scent for almost every major event in my life. For me, that makes perfume magical.

Grandpa

The people closest to me know why I chose to name my blog Singin' in the Rain but I thought I would share the reason with anyone else who is reading this. For one, it is my favorite movie. I think I was about 7 or 8 the first time I watched it, and I truly believed that one day I was going to dance with Gene Kelly.

The reason Singin' in the Rain is my favorite movie is because my Grandpa showed it to me along with countless other musicals and old mystery movies and just plain old movies. You see, for about 8 years my Grandpa would come over on the weekends to stay with my older brother and I when my parents were at work. There were a lot of boys in our neighborhood for my brother to play with but he didn't want his baby sister tagging along so I spent many a Saturday and Sunday hanging out with Grandpa. Grandpa wasn't exactly sure how to entertain a 7 year old girl, so he taught me about the things that he found entertaining: movies and gin rummy. We would play gin rummy for hours and hours and when we weren't doing that we were watching a movie. He would tell me all about the actors and actresses in each film and if they were in any other film that he enjoyed, well that was the one he would bring over the following week. With my Grandpa I discovered my love of cinema and theater. And I'm pretty good at gin rummy too.

My Grandpa died almost a year ago and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him. Sometimes these thoughts make me smile and sometimes they make me a cry a little, but I think that's just part of the process. I was very lucky in that, in the last weeks of his life, I was able to spend a lot of time with him and tell him how much he meant to me. He died in my parent's home surrounded by his children and grandchildren and it was a beautiful experience.

I now have several things that belonged to Grandpa in my house including the VHS tape of Singin' in the Rain that he showed me so many years ago. Whenever I see it I smile and say to myself "Love you, Grandpa."

Meet Rufus

Ah, I love Saturdays! Really I love any day that I don't have to wake up with an alarm clock. This morning I woke up to slobbery kisses on my nose from a very cute young man. No, not the hubs. It was Rufus, the newest addition to our family (see picture). We got Rufus in April from the family across the street. They were trying to find a good home for him and he was campaigning to come live with us by crossing the street and sitting at my feet whenever I got home from work. I would get out of my car and he would trot over to me, tail wagging, and sit and look up at me expectantly, almost as if to say "when are you going let me come in?" We fell in love with Rufus the first time we saw him, but didn't know how our other dog, Lexi, who was accustomed to being an only child and queen of the castle, would react to a new addition. As it turns out, Lexi loves having a playmate (except when he wakes her in the morning, she is NOT a morning dog, see picture #2). Both Lexi and Rufus have such personality and they are so much fun that I really can't imagine not having them. They are an endless source of entertainment for us and there's nothing like coming home to their two happy faces, tails wagging as fast as possible. They can brighten even the crummiest day. And now they want their mama to stop typing and take them for a walk!

This is Fun!

I can't believe it has taken me so long to create a blog! I find writing to be very therapeutic and I kept journals for years. However thanks to 8 years of writing research papers and 2 years working in an office, I can actually type faster than I can write these days. So here I am. Technology is pretty cool, huh? And speaking of technology, I had a revelation the other day. Being 24 years old, I have grown up in the "information age." I have vague memories of consulting encyclopedias and library books to answer my questions, but nowadays I rely heavily on search engines such as Google, Wikipedia, and IMDB for immediate knowledge. And thank goodness because these websites have resolved many a disagreement (the duck billed platypus is NOT extinct! It's Weekend at Bernies 2! Spiders don't have lungs!) The other day it occurred to me that there are some things that I wonder about that can't be looked up in on any website or in any encyclopedia. For instance, I have an incredible sense of smell (and I should given the size of my nose!) and I remember exactly how my preschool teacher's perfume smelled. Sometimes I will catch a whiff of the mystery scent when I'm out and about and I will pause for a moment and think "Ms. Lucy!" I can never tell exactly where it's coming from so I have never asked a complete stranger what the scent is called. And as much as I would like to be able to Google "Ms. Lucy's perfume circa 1989" I know that it will always remain a mystery to me.