5 Daily Essentials

The ever lovely Jeska from Lobster and Swan tagged me in a post about bloggers five daily essentials. Jeska's are here- and very chic.

Mine are above- I decided to literally pull things out of my bag thinking those items at the top of the bag would be the most used. So we have: 2 moleskins (one diary, one for jotting notes because I still like pen and paper for creative thoughts); one inhaler for breathing more easily; one i pod for good sounds and 2 lip things which I'm sort of including as one because I'm a cheat, one is a lip balm and the other is a lip stick which I put on in emergencies when I'm looking particularly tired or my outfit needs a lift.

I surprised myself because the two real essentials that aren't in the picture are my phone (because the picture was taken on it) and my bank card which is very necessary. I also don't seem to have any perfume! (but worry not there is an atomizer buried in there somewhere).

Thanks very much to Jeska for asking me to play the game.

What's on the outside

I think all the time about changing the way my blog looks- and I often regret letting go of my old school original template (although I still love my header- thank you Jayne).

I know that the professional thing to do is to become a .com or .co.uk and change to a different template but I quite like my blogspot- and if it's good enough for the Sartorialist then why not?

How do other people feel- not so much about my blog but about how blogs in general look and what they like and don't?

Freedom

I am off on holiday from tomorrow but will (hopefully) be posting from a far via the medium of blogger scheduled posting!

All this week and particularly today though another journey has been on my mind- that made by thousands of soldiers from northern France to the southern coasts of the British Isles during the battle and evacuation of Dunkirk- and by thousands of boats from these islands to get them. I am thinking of our own family hero particularly, not an important man but a very brave and very modest one- so modest in fact that I never knew his Dunkirk story while he was alive. There aren't really enough words to describe how exceptional all the people involved were or how hard it must have been for them. My glass is raised to you all.

In five years time

Jayne from a A Novice Novelist has tagged me in a game of what a difference five years can make.

So the game would like to know:

Where were you five years ago? Here. Well a different desk but effectively here. I would like to tell you I was a jazz singer in Paris or with the Doctor in the tardis but it wouldn’t be true.

Where would you like to be five years from now? All I know about that is in London with a pen and paper- I’d like to find a healthy me with healthy loved ones

What is on your to-do list today? EVERYTHING- people to pay, things to book, stuff to write, stuff to listen to, rubbish to take out, washing to put in

What five snacks do you enjoy? Cheese, Macaroons, Parma violets, rose and violet creams, prawn cocktail crisps- so mostly pink and purple food

What would you do if you were a Billionaire? All that I could fit in, go to all the places I haven't been, see all the bands/ exhibitions/ films and plays I haven't, read all those books on the shelf- I would live the same life effectively but with the time and freedom money buys I suppose.

I would try to help others to do what they wanted to do too, if that doesn’t sound glib. Obviously after I’d bought everything on my Amazon wishlist, a cottage and a vintage sports car.

Pass it on...

So I'd like to hear how the following people would answer these questions- but only if they would like to play of course. Over to you:

Metropolitan Mum

Cassandra from Jacob Wrestling

Lewis William at Knightley or Elton (I thought it might get you out of the garden/ jam jar speak easy!)

Emily from London Zest

and Mr London Street when you're back from your holiday

Commenting

I am still having lots of trouble commenting- on my own blog and on everyone else's!

Wordpress blogs have seemed better- unless I swear!- but today I can't comment on those either.

So I am grateful as always for all the lovely comments here and I am reading your blogs elsewhere but my comments will be a bit delayed as I only make them on my laptop- which I'm not on all the time.

Grrrrr.

Posterous

I'm rather addicted to India Knight's Posterous blog thing. It has lots of lovely things I WANT and it's just, you know, fun. As she said on her twitter it's a bit like an extension of her book The Shops.

Changes

The blog is having a little spring clean and a touch of clarity- I'm trying to have fewer labels and the colours are a bit stronger. I hope you like it.

Your blog is f*^£k&?" Fabulous

How lovely to be able to return and find I have been given an award with a pretty fabulous name by the ever lovely Cassandra who writes Jacob Wrestling (a blog name so good I wish I had come up with it).

So the rules are:

1. You have to pass it (the award) on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post. (easy Below)

Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then “add image” it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as well. To add it to your sidebar, add the “picture” widget. Also, don’t forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

Well I'm going to do the second thing first. My 5 fabulous addictions are:

1) Virtually all the blogs on my blog roll (please check them out, they are an eclectic mix but I try not to include anything I don't find myself coming back to again and again- although some post more than others because I imagine they are busy bloggers).

2) Perfume. Obviously- I also LOVE watching strangers and picking scents for them. I could dream away hours on trains or in cafes doing this. I have a whole cupboard (albeit one that fits on top of a chest of drawers) filled with bottles of scent from the £5 to the... erm more... and I obsessively box all my samples and keep lists of them. You can be geeky about virtually anything if you try hard enough can't you?

3) Strawberry milk and prawn cocktails crisps. I know it sounds like a very strange- and very pink- hangover cure but it works every time- so it's my Saturday and Sunday morning addiction (note to self I will not get thinner if I keep having the pink breakfast).

4)Murder mysteries. I know they're sad but I don't care. Joan Hickson as Miss Marple is a goddess of the crime drama world and no one can get close to her in my opinion (and ITV please stop making those awful Marples... they are criminal and not in a good way, Agatha would not approve).

5)Magazines. At the moment I just don't seem to be able to stop myself. There is something about turning the first page of a fresh magazine that isn't comparable. This is particularly true of a really beautiful magazine- although some like Lula are too delicious and I fear I will spoil them and end up trying not to bend the spine as if they were a first edition. I fantasise about having my own magazine- because although I love the blog you can't take it in the bath and get it wet can you, or read with your legs up in the air, access it on a long haul flight or twist and turn it as you want. Most of all though you can't cut out the pictures, recipes and articles you love and put them in a folder for later.

So onto the blogs I am making awards for being fabulous to. They are (in no particular order).

Firstly Perfume Shrine for loads of reasons. It's one of the first blogs I found and loved, it's really well written but it's always enjoyable and most of all it's wonderful to find people as passionate about perfumes as I am.

Also to A Novice Novelist which is great blog by a writer preparing her first novel. She talks about creating the novel but also life as it happens around it. I found this blog totally by chance and just really Jayne's writing style and natural humour. She brightens up my days with the little things in life she notices.

I am also a long time fan of Scent of Abricots. Jenavira finds really interesting pictures and writes really well about fragrances and what they mean to her or do for her. I also like that she always writes about her scent of the day- because I am naturally very nosey and love finding out what other people are wearing (I'm wearing Jo Malone French Lime Blossom today by the way!)

Notes from the Ledge is a particular favourite. It features unusual scents and often discusses topics I wouldn't have thought of, it really gets me thinking.

Finally The Daily Connoisseur always brightens my day; it's sunny, always classy and elegant.

Looking back on 2008

I'm very happy to be participating in a retrospective of 2008 in the world of fragrance with the authors of some other wonderful blogs about perfume: Perfume Shrine, Ars Aromatica, Bittergrace Notes, Grain de Musc, I smell therefore I am, Savvy Thinker, The Non Blonde, Tuilleries, Legerdenez, Notes From the Ledge, 1000 Fragrances and Olfactarma

So without further ado.

My top 3 new scents of 2008 have been:

1) Dans Tes Bras by Frenderic Malle, which I wrote about here. I'm not sure this has been every one's cup of tea but it's actually one of my favourites from the Malle line now. It is a wonderful name too.

2) Elixir, by Olivia Giacobetti for Penhaligon's. I have only recently smelled this and haven't had time to review it yet. On me it was a very true church incense fragrance that was wearable on my skin, which is exactly what I have been looking for. I am also very pleased that Penhaligon's have pursued this more daring scent. Full review to follow in 2009!

3) Fleur De Sal by Miller Harris. I tried this fragrance when salt was a relatively new scent to me and one I was obsessed with it. I have since found other salt scents but for me this scent still has *something* special in it. It's by far the most satisfying scent in the Miller Harris line for me. I read today with great interest in the Telegraph's Stella magazine that Lynn Harris is working on a scent based on a raining morning in Regent's Park. If it's anything like as good as it sounds this is going to be top of my wish list.

My 3 favourite developments in the perfume world outside of fragrances themselves have been:

1) Perfume books! I have devoured Perfumes: The Guide and Roja Dove's Essence of Perfume this year. For me while I love perfume blogs and magazine and newspaper articles there is nothing so good as have a book I can hold in my hands and refer to whenever I want. I have been so pleased to see the attention these books have had in the mainstream press and hope they open the door for even more perfume books to add to the growing collection available.

2) Personally I have gained a great deal of pleasure and knowledge from finding more perfume blogs and have really enjoyed having contact with their authors. I'm also very grateful to the people who read and comment here, I really enjoy writing the blog and it always brightens my day to know that it's read and enjoyed.

3)The increased availability of samples. Whether that's via sites like The Perfumed Court, Lucky Scent or through scent houses offering sample sets. I think this is especially useful where scents aren't widely available, because even if you can make a journey to somewhere that sells the fragrances you might not want to make a decision about if you want to buy something or not without sampling a scent for several hours at least. I myself have made use of Lostmarc'h's excellent sample service recently and will be writing about the perfumes they sent in the new year.

My 3 favourite fragrance discoveries in 2008 have been:

1) Pour Troubler by Guerlain. Again I found myself thinking that, to my nose, Guerlain's classic scents are just head and shoulders above most fragrances I have ever smelled and I think I ever will.

2) Lostmarc'h, whose scents I have already mentioned I will discuss in January. I have been curious about this house for some time and their fragrances really didn't disappoint.

3) Sel de Vetiver by the Different Company. Finding this was like finding the answer to a complicated puzzle to me; it is everything I want a Vetiver scent to be.

I would like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy and fragrant 2009!

Tag

I have been tagged again this time by Helg whose work at the wonderfulPerfume Shrine I enjoy and admire a great deal.

The rules of the game are: 1. Link to the person who tagged you 2. Post the rules on your blog 3. Write six random things about yourself 4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them 5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog 6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

So to the six random things!

1) Although I seem very English I have Irish ancestry and think in my way I am quite Irish too

2) I feel quite uncomfortable if I don't have a pen and paper with me at all times

3) When I go to other European countries people seem to invariably think I'm native, well until I open my mouth, I get asked for directions by locals and other tourists pick me out to ask questions as if I am not one of them. This pleases and amuses me, I like to think there is a touch of the Alec Guinness about me and I can blend in well.

4) My favourite food of all is pasta, well today anyway. Pasta is a life affirming sort of food, I always feel better when I have it and ready for whatever comes next.

5) As well as my obvious love for perfume I also adore jewellery, particularly anything Art Deco or Nouveau but really anything sparkly and/ or shiny. It is perhaps strange then that I only had my ears pierced when I was twenty five (there another thing about me- I am more than 25...) I would like to say that I am now enjoying earrings as much as any other item of jewellery I wear. However people who say ear piercing doesn't hurt are either lying or have VERY high pain thresholds. I thought it felt like someone had attached a stapler to my ear and didn't take it off for at least 2 hours.

6)I am Capricorn and in many ways am very true to my sign, I certainly always like other Capricorns which is a supposed trait. I have always felt a strange affinity with Aquarius though. I would love to find out if I could in some way be slightly Aquarian, the descriptions always fit me well and seem far more natural to me.

Kate Moss as Marlene Dietrich courtesy of: www.artisnotdead.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html (Kate Moss and I are both Capricorns and we share the same birthday- so I thought it was a good excuse for this great picture!)

I am not going to pass on the tag as most of the blogs I regularly comment on have been tagged recently- but I think this is really fun so in lots of ways I wish I could re tag people!

Tagged

I have been tagged by Scent of Abricots and The Daily Connoisseur two of my favourite blogs.

When tagged, one must:

1. Link to the person who tagged you (above)

2. Post the rules on your blog (here)

3. Write six random things about yourself

a) I have a borderline phobia of tinned tuna and particularly tuna mayonnaise. A tuna mayonnaise and sweetcorn melt is my room 101 food.

b) I worked at Buckingham Palace after graduating.

c) I am not actually from London, I am from Surrey, although I live in London now. I have that love for London that many people who weren't born here have, a more intense, wide eyed love born out of coming as a child and just being drunk with wonder instantly. The wonder still hasn't diminished even though there are clearly lots of things that aren't perfect. Of course I love Surrey too and do not hold that you are either town or country.

d) I have shoes ranging from size 37 to 40

e) My first perfume was L'air du Temps by Nina Ricci

f) I have never seen Beaches all the way through

4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them

I am not going to tag anyone as I think most of the blogs I regularly contribute to have been tagged

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Will do!

L'air du Temps picture courtesy of: www.glitterswithperfume.blogspot.com