John Deere 4440 and round baler, seen behind the Morning Glory Vine That Ate the Porch
Monday, Sept. 12: Another beautiful day. I finally finished sewing the ribbon trim to Bookworm’s Homecoming dress, yay! She’s going to be so lovely in it. SOTMorning: a test sample of Sonoma Scent Studio’s upcoming scent which goes by the working name of “Classic.” It was gorgeously floral for some time, and then went all celery-vetiverish and vanilla. I’m betting it’s me, because on paper it is stunningly sandalwoody.
SOTE: Le Temps d’une Fete, beautiful. Attended Band Booster meeting… SO MUCH WORK goes into what happens on the field at the football game; most people have no idea. (Okay, to be fair, I have no idea what the football parents of the Touchdown Club do – they probably do fundraisers, too, and help haul around the equipment. But the football team is better funded, that much I know.)
Update: Oops, misjudged the strap length on one side. Must fix. Also, the shoes she liked two weeks ago no longer suit her: too unstable, and they’re going to rub her pinky toes. Arrrrrrgh. Really, she just needs practice walking in heels! I started wearing heels to church when I was, oh, 11 or 12, and was awkward in them for awhile, but I wanted to learn. She doesn’t want to practice, and she thinks the problem is in the shoes. They aren’t even high heels – they’re 1 ¾” tall, and they’re on the chunky side, somewhere between “kitten” and “court” heels.
Tuesday, Sept. 13: SOTD: Vintage Balmain Jolie Madame extrait. I’m spoiling myself. This vtg extrait is both incredibly floral and incredibly leathery, and completely ladylike in an unpowdery way. Also retesting SSS “Classic” on the back of my hand. No celery today, yippee.
SOTEvening: Cuir de Lancome.
Did a little sniffery with Taz before dinner, and gave him several so-called masculine scents to sniff, trying to find out his preferences. He’s got a birthday coming up in a few weeks (as does Gaze, 8 days later). C&S No. 88 he didn’t like; nor did he like DSH Lucky Clover. He said Acqua di Gio and Dior Homme Sport were just “okay,” and he did not like Hermes Bel Ami and YSL M7 at all. What did he like? Shalimar Light and Chanel Egoiste. Wonder if I could find an Egoiste smell-alike for him… there’s no way I’m buying a Chanel for an 11-year-old! Maybe I could search Fragrantica for a woody-spicy fragrance that isn’t expensive. Hmm.
Wednesday, Sept. 14: Mowed grass. There won’t be too many more times to do that; the growth has already slowed quite a bit. SOTD: Champagne de Bois.
Thursday, Sept. 15: Cool front moving in! SOTD: Coty Chypre on wrists, and DSH Chypre on inner forearms. Lovely stuff. Finished hemming Bookworm’s new jeans. After her conniption fit ther other day about her Homecoming shoes, I bought a different batch of shoes for her to try. She likes one pair that has heels a trifle lower, and thinks she might choose them instead of the other pair. I like them both, and although I think the first pair is slightly prettier, I’m not the one wearing them… sigh. I should be glad she’s in any heels at all.
(Thank goodness for Zappos and OnlineShoes! She has teeny feet, and nobody in this area carries size 5 for women. Any size 5s I can find locally – and there aren’t many! – tend to be little-girl shoes. Luckily, she takes a size 6 in running shoes, or we’d be in trouble there too.)
Community Chorus rehearsal went pretty well. SOTEvening: Caron Parfum Sacre, lovely cozy stuff.
PCHS tubas rockin' it to "Hey, Baby," at the football game, photo by Nicole Ward
Saturday, Sept. 17: Cleaned house – well, to be honest, I gave it “a lick and a promise,” as my grandmother always called any half-hearted attempt. After lunch, I dropped Bookworm off at school for marching band quick rehearsal before they left for their competition. The CEO managed to score two tickets to the Virginia Tech football game, and it was Taz’ turn to go, so those two headed off for the game while Gaze and I went to my parents’ house. He stayed to watch the game on TV with my dad (another VT alumnus), while Mom and I went to watch the band competition, which was being hosted by my own high school. SOTD: SSS Champagne de Bois, still on my band shirt from last night, with a tiny layering of Tabac Aurea as well. Nice.
It was actually tough to be there at my old school, hearing cadences played, and not marching. I don’t miss high school much. But I miss marching band. I had terrific friends there, even better maybe than my choir friends or youth group friends. And I always loved cadence; it still makes my blood itch and my feet want to move.
Bookworm’s school did very well. The show was the cleanest I’ve seen it performed yet. This competition is early in the season and designed as a clinic – i.e., for the purpose of providing bands with judging and constructive criticism to help shape the rest of the competition season. We were gratified to notice that PCHS received the highest score of the day, a quarter of a point better than that really big band from North Carolina. I’m so proud.
Sunday, Sept. 18: Since we didn’t actually take a family vacation this summer, we’d promised the boys that we’d take them to the amusement park (Carowinds, on the border between North and South Carolina, about two hours’ drive away). Today shaped up to be really great for it: temps in the 70s, mostly cloudy. Very comfortable weather, and the park isn’t crowded in the fall, so you can ride pretty much anything you want, with very little waiting in line. PETBoy went with us, and honestly, deserved a gold star or two for hanging with Bookworm, who is a roller coaster fiend. I like roller coasters myself, but there are a couple that I don’t enjoy at this park. PETBoy rode them with her, and even rode once with Taz, just so I could sit out the wooden coaster that gives me a headache. SOTD: Balenciaga Paris, which is quite nice: violet leaf, violet, comfortable tonka-musk drydown. I’ll probably use up my sample (thanks, Undina!) and enjoy it, and never give it another thought.
Got home very late and gratefully collapsed into the sheets wearing Shalimar Light.
Muse in Wooden Shoes 
Hi Mals! Just had to chime in that I too love Zappos. I have a wide foot and finding shoes that are reasonable comfortable is a challenge. And I thought of you when I went to a college football game last weekend and watched the marching band. Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one – a parade or something? Our school didn’t have one due to lack of funding or interest or both.
And if you ever run low on Shalimar Light, I have about one-third of a bottle I’d be happy to send your way – I am so sensitive to powder and get a lot from it. And I know how hard it is to find!
I have wide feet too! It is terrific for weird-size shoes. OnlineShoes.com is pretty good as well (and sometimes their prices are better).
I am digging being a band booster… it’s just, sometimes, I wanna march too. Sigh.
I do love SL. I have three bottles at the moment (and a 5ml decant of the first version, Eau Legere, which I admire and think is lovely and yet somehow do not adore).
Like you, I really miss my high school band participation, especially this time of year. Good memories, good friends.
For Taz, have you checked out Bath and Body Works’ Oak or Twilight Woods SIgnature Collection for Men? I’m not familiar with them myself, but their women’s scents are generally well done, and reasonably priced. Maybe one of Coty’s Stetson versions or TIm McGraw? Anything to move away from Axe or the zillion CKOne wannabees…
Oh, yes on MB being terrific friends!
I think I smelled those B&BW men’s things when they came out last year but I don’t really remember them. I have a vague memory of liking Oak. I might have to investigate some of the Stetson flankers (not the original, I had a boyfriend that wore that) or the Tim McGraws for him. Something nice but not ‘spensive is what I’d look for… Old Spice is on the list, too.
I thought of you when I was testing “Classic”. From what I can guess about your taste, it seemed like your kind of thing. I’m interested to smell how it turns out in final version.
You know, “classic” should be my kind of thing. But it reminds me a lot of Jour Ensoleille (the beeswax seems to be taking over) and I wish it were drier.
On my skin “classic” isn’t sweet at all. And definitely no celery.
Mals, have you tried endless.com and shoebuy.com? Both have free shipping and return as well. It’s easy to find coupons for shoebuy.com and it participates in many cash back programs.
Haven’t tried shoebuy… I think I had bad luck finding something I liked at endless.
Luckily for you, “classic” works! I wish it worked for me.
My mother wears a size 5 shoe, too. Even in the very impressive Nordstrom shoe department, she needs hours to find something. It is the cause of my life-long aversion to shoe shopping.
Shoooooooes. I never get the constant chick-lit references to shoes, because I have weird feet myself (duck feet, actually, quite wide across the toes and instep and very narrow at the heel) and I can’t just DROP INTO A STORE AND BUY FABULOUS SHOES. So jealous.
Okay, I’m past that. (Not really, but let’s pretend.)