Tobacco and French Perfume

Jennifer Lawrence, or rather her character, Rosalyn, in the movie American Hustle has accented (or acscented as Alex would pun) "scents for women" with her enthusiasm for the smell on her nail polish topcoat- "smells like flowers but with garbage" she raves. Interesting that the garbage adds to the allure. Or is Rosalyn just wacky? Yes but I think there is something to having the somewhat off, earthy scent adding to the appeal of the sweet, citrus or floral. I prefer that as well in a scent (to put on my body)- maybe not garbage though.

On my recent trip to the Yucatan peninsula I stopped by the local perfumerie, Coqui, Coqui in Valladolid. They had a lab on site (because they use local organic material) and a very posh sales clerk who spoke perfect English and allowed me to sample some of their more popular fragrances. I tried quite a few but none was quite so alluring as the tobacco scent.  It was...rich, mysterious and yes, smoky. I had to have some-- who wouldn't?

Tobacco perfume....drool!

I would have bought more because the essence was so great but I am a big fan of the french perfume-(the floral but mixed with  the dark, hefty scents which include roots, wood, pepper, black tea), the Hermessence four pack to be exact.  Mr. L got me hooked on Hermes perfume when he bought me the Vetiver Tonka as a birthday present one year. Here is the write up: "powerful vetiver smoothed out by velvety hazelnut. A hint of pralines is mixed with the sweetness of Tonka beans to soften the earthy rough effect of the roots".

Here's what the vetiver root and the tonka bean look like:

vetiver root- rough

tonka bean

and here is the swanky Hermessence bottle:

It has a slightly green tinge

I love wearing this sophisticated perfume. I feel very grown up, edgy, sexy. Like I did when I used to smoke. (Ya that's why tobacco and perfume mixed together- really the perfect combo!) When it was just about finished Mr. L offered to buy me some more.  I guess he liked it too. Well, what's a girl to say? (Thank you darling,that would be divine. Yes, that's the ticket.)  We trekked down to Hermes in Toronto and found that they had a product we had never clued into before, on offer- the Hermessence 4 pack:

Signature orange box

with

4 gorgeous perfumes

4 of 11 options

Personally,  I am drawn to the scents that have floral tones but combined with woody and murky essences- like cedar, pepper, tea.  The four I now have are the Vetiver Tonka, Paprika Brazil (brazil tree mixed with paprika), Santal Massoia (which comes from the massoia tree which is native to New Guinea) and the Poivre Samarcande (old oak mixed with pepper). I sometimes combine two.  I wear perfume every weekday and when going out on the weekend and I have to say I get quite a lift from it.

My next purchase will be the Ambre Narguile which Jean-Claude Ellan (a Hermes perfumeur) describes as follows:

Amber, the Western expression of Eastern fragrances, has a warm, enveloping, almost carnal smell. (ME - Do you mind- Jean Claude!)  I wanted to imbue this idea of amber with the memory of the East I love where tobacco - blended with the smells of fruit, honey and spices - is smoked in narguilés, or water pipes, and where swirls of smoke diffuse a sweet sense of intoxication." 

SWOON!
They didn't have this fragrance the last time but now that I know that tobacco and perfume go together it's the one.

I Love Mexico

It's true. I love Mexico or at least the part that I visited- the Yucatan peninsula. I didn't get a tee shirt but I should have.

Here's the top three things that I love about Mexico:

Uno: The people. They are lovely-warm, chatty, charming, helpful and have a good sense of fun and humour. I know it's a generalisation - I am sure there are some nasty ones out there, but the people I met were great.

Here I am with Bambi- our guide (in the Punta Laguna nature reserve) to an island with  20 different species and  about thousand birds-x 2 cause there were 2 islands. I'm not even kidding

I'll give you a couple of examples:

A guy started talking to me in Spanish in the town square in Valladolid. I said "No hablo espangnol except que si se -Nuestra elefante no es blanco" ( "I don't speak Spanish except I do know our elephant is not white." You will recall  from the previous post that was one expression that I had learned). I smiled and he smiled and he said with a twinkle in his eye "No- nuestra elefante es gris!"  I must have used my line about the elephant about 20 times through my travels in Mexico- Mr. Lovely says it has now become a meme down there but every time people got that I was kidding and laughed or at least gave me a smile.

Another time Mr. Lovely and I went to a bar- I ordered some vino (which was not so good I have to say- but on the up side was only 35 pesos- so under 3 bucks-  do you mind-what do you want for that amount of money right- margaritas definitely the way to go if you can take the sugar) and Mr L said he didn't want anything. The waiter said  "Amigo this is so sad- go ahead order what you want- I'll buy you a drink" He meant it too. He kept coming back and hamming it up about Mr. L not drinking and being concerned for his health and happiness. Fun.

The last example is when I was checking in security at the aerpuerto - I stupidly left my oversized and very expensive Kevin Murphy container of hair lotion in the carry-on even though they tell you 9 million times not to. So of course it was confiscated- but the young woman said in Spanish but I managed to glean her intent- go and find some little bottles and you can transfer the product over- (there was only about 1/3 left) Who does that? So that is what I did and here is my hair product:

Yup, Kevin Murphy in tic tac

Dos: The best dining locations ever!  We spent half our time on the Mayan Riveria which has the most beautiful beach- (paraiso de playa) I have ever been to, so most of our meals there (mostly ate the ceviche or fish- it is the place for sea food!) were overlooking this gorgeous beach and ocean:

View from our table at La Lunite in Akumal

The other half of the time we visited the colonial cities of Vallodolid, Izamal and Merida so our meals there were in these splendid courtyards- fantastic trees and vegetation- we were plunked right down in the middle of the jungle.

 Kinich restaurant in Izamal- pretty tropical

It was fantastic.  I was not super fussed on the Yucantan cuisine except in one gourmet restaurant in Tulum but the locations could not be beat!

Tres: The art.  I was fascinated by the skeletal art -very Tim Burtonesque- he definitely was inspired here. But in particular I captivated by La Calavera Catrina (or Dapper Skeleton; Elegant Skull).  The original was an etching made by a  political printmaker/engraver, Jose Gudalupe Posada between 1910 and 1913- an image of a female skeleton dressed in a hat befitting an upper class aristocrat.

Isn't she creepy?

She is a satirical portrait of Mexican natives who were trying to adopt European ways and has become a major symbol of the Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead ) celebrations which take place on (no surprise) Oct 31, Nov 1 and Nov 2.  I gotta get me there for that. I also heard the intent is to mock out people taking themselves and their riches too seriously for as it came to poor Yorick- "let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come". Great reminder- great stuff!
We went on several house tours a couple which featured these papier mache Catrinas- I thought they were spectacular. So much so I had to bring one back for a place in my parlour:

My very own Catrina. She has hair and a wonderful butt

What do you think?

Mexico Aqui Vamos (Mexico Here We Come)

So in less than a week, Mr. Lovely and I will be picking up a rental car at the airport in Cancun and driving to our first stop just outside of Akumal, in the Mayan Riveria in the Yucatan Peninsula, Meh-"EEK"-oh! Al, who is a big punster set us up with "So would you say that where you are going, you will have an opportunity to be out in the sun or in other words the place you are going is a place where..You can tan". Yes, Al, I would definitely say that. He loves being able word play so this goes on a lot in out house when he's home.

We are pretty excited about the trip because it has all the elements we strive for in a vacation: Beautiful scenery, cultural input, physical activity and down time. First off and this was a big criteria given our FREEZING cold winter- (Do you mind- Ontario weather!)-it'll be hot, hot hot and I don't just mean the tamales!  For some chill time, we are staying in a hut off the grid in Tulum;  for exercise, we plan to snorkel in Akumal, bike in Coba to see the Mayan ruins in the forest, and also hike around the ruins in Chichen Itza, and elsewhere where we can find them; and for the cultural- well the ruins, - and in the colonial town of Merida, we plan to go English Library House and Garden Tour,  visit a couple of museums ( apparently there is reputed to be the best modern art museums in Mexico, here) a cathedral and the local market and one day hope to drive to see the flamingos in Celestun about an hour's drive west of Merida. We are going prepared. First off we spoke with our friends, the Terrys who had taken a similar trip a few years back. This was their route:

Cancun, Akumal, Tulum, Coba, Valladolid, Chichen Itza Merida, and back

This is our route:

Cancun, Akumal, Tulum, Coba, Valladolid, Chichen Itza, Merida, and back

Ya, ok we are copying them but why not- it worked for them. They also gave us their waterproof map of the area, their travel books, their tips on where to eat drink and play, difficult turns in the road, and when to get to a particular spot to avoid touristos and traffic and their wonderful enthusiasm for the place. They are great guides- for sure.

I also have been studying Spanish on my Duolingo app. What a world!  But in a good way- (not in the wicked witch of the west -"I'm melting WAW WAW"- way). It's a really great learning tool and I have learned invaluable phrases like "El pingüino contra el cangrejo"- Translation- "The penguin vs the crab". I don't even know what that means in English! Also "Nuestro elefante no es blanco." Translation- "Our elephant is not white". I am sure those will come up many times during our trip.  Seriously though I am having fun trying to learn the language and I definitely have memorized the important stuff like, aqua (water), cervaza (beer), vino (needs no translation), desayuno (breakfast), almuerzo (lunch), and cena (dinner), and the all important - where is the restroom "donde estan los servivios por favor"  (because this apparently more refined than say el bano- room that has a bathtub) and hablas ingles?

I think we are set! If you have any hot tips- kindly lay them on me within the next few days.  Hasta la vista baby!

So Long Solar Nails

When I was down in Tallahassee visiting my sister, my mom treated me to some solar nails. What are they you ask? Well they are fake-a-roo nails- that is - acrylic nails, gel clomped on top of your real nails. They last about a month until the nails grows out so much they start to look insane and they have to be refilled. You look like you've had a french manicure.  My sister had solar nails and was going on about how excellent they were. She and my mom agreed that my nails were egregious and that I needed nail help big time.

Ok, they may need a little help

So off we went to see Helen who according to my sister is a genius.  Helen is from Vietnam and though her English is spotty (while I was there she mostly spoke choppy, incomprehensible words in her confident no-nonsense manner to other staff who sidled up to the station to chit chat with her), she is slick and styling, has cool solar nails herself, and runs a large, well lit, swanky salon in a strip mall.  It is a family operation and her husband works there too, giving pedicures and manicures and the works. Other guys too.  Guys can do that stuff.  Who knew?  I was pretty impressed. Mom gave Helen a $15 tip and I gave Helen a hug.

Here is how my hands looked with the solar nails:

Note the pearls. They don't come with the nails but are there to show if you get solar nails you will get pearls too.

I have to admit my nails looked pretty great. C'mon look at them. Ok those are not "my' nails but they looked just like that.  Plus they were so "sleeky" smooth. I got into the habit of admiring them multiple times an hour and also running them along my lips for the tactile sensation. It was comforting.  So all was good until somehow, (don't even ask), I sliced through one nail and it was part on, part off.  This was bad, Rose. (A la Titanic, when Jack is handcuffed in the basement and the water is threatening to drown him). But it had been almost about a month since installation and they needed refilling anyways. So I called up a family run nail place that had been recommended to me and asked if I could get an emergency appointment. The exchange went something like this:

Not Helen: Don't need appointment-you come-we fit you in.

Me:  Really?  Awesome. Is there a time I should come that's better? 

Not Helen: No. Come anytime -we fit you in.
When I got there- (a dingy, small place that had construction paper on the windows blocking the inside from the out--also in a strip mall) Not Helen asked:  "Have you been here before? "Me: (And looking back on it, I'm now pretty sure this was the wrong answer): "No."
NH: "We no can help you. We short staff and people waiting." There were two women getting manicures and one or maybe two women waiting.  I don't know for sure. She was already walking away from me.

Me:  WHAAAATTTT??? (That part was inside my head.) "Well can you tell me how long I would have to wait?"

NH: We can't help you today.
Me:  But I called and you said you would fit me in. 

NH: We fit you in if we have no other customers.

Do you mind! That is not what "fit you in" means!
I was not happy at all, not one little bit. This SN gig was wearing on my nerves.  I managed to yank the balance of the acrylic off myself so it didn't look so weird. Nine solar nails and counting.

A couple of days later I was out in another part of town I had to drive to--buying shoes with Al, (it's a thing we do, yes) and I stumbled upon another nail place (and this was in a strip mall too- I'm starting to see the pattern). I wandered in and asked the little Asian man sitting at the cash if they could fix my solars. He offered me a seat (right at the cash- it had a whitish towel on the counter sill and some supplies there) and commenced a-working.  Weird and maybe not so hygienic but I was game.  Again I could barely understand what he said other than his wife worked there too and his daughter had moved back home and he was mad about it. There was a slightly different procedure and the white parts were decidedly thicker (true, I had assented by nodding when he asked me something) but they were back to scratch. Later that day I dropped a winter hat box on the same nail that had been totally repaired and it came right off. I decided to live with it.

I kept up with the nails even though they had started growing out, chipping and lifting up. I may be a bit hard on my nails- even my fake ones.  A couple of days ago, I'd had enough. I did some world wide web research, bought a bucket of salon strength acetone and started the hideous process of removing these solars. It took about 2 hours and they are still not completely off but my hands were getting beat up-- red, itchy and dry so I had to stop.  I have my nails back. They are shorty, stubby, weak as kittens, have bleeding hang nails, swollen cuticles and cracked tops but they are real and they don't require salon maintenance.  Of course I will miss the Asian cultural part - that was interesting.

PS. I ran this post by Mr. Lovely who suggested it might offend some ethnic sensibilities- which I hope is not the case as I strive not to offend- but to be descriptive (and funny).  I welcome your comments on that or anything really.

Note to Self -Unclutter Your World (Start with your Desk)

As a lawyer, I, and my clients, have to sign a vast amount of documents- Transfers, Charges, Acknowledgements, Last Wills and Testaments, Powers of Attorneys, Directions, yada yada yada, caveat emptor, fiduciary, res ipsa loquitur.. er...you know- a whole host of very important and interesting legal stuff. So as a lawyer I need to make sure that I have good working pens on hand. These are the pens that I have on my desk that I can easily access when I need them:

Yessir yessir- 2 (bags) full- easy to grab

This is the inside of the top drawer of my desk:

Pens yes and also bracelets, bandaids, tide to go, comb, white out, bank receipt, elastics, pencils, note about hotel in Sicily(hot tip from a client), stress release fish, highlighter, stapler remover, post it notes, napkin, scissors, gum wrappers

Do you mind? I'm not even kidding.

Ya well if I believed in New Years Resolutions- (although maybe it is too late- it is Jan. 12 for crying out loud) one would be to clean out my drawer.  Happily, I don't, so I that's why I have stuff in there from over a year ago.  As Frances Ha, in the quirky, life affirming Noah Baumbach film of the same name, says "I'm not messy- I'm busy." Whatever.

But seriously, every once in a while I think it is a good idea to unclutter your world- it tidies your mind and makes your environment more workable and pleasant. It does take energy and I have to admit that sometimes I have to bootstrap it but I always feel satisfied, even proud afterwards. I don't have to resolve to do it- I just have to do it........... tomorrow!

New Year's Eve Lonely Heart

Why is New Year"s Eve one of those nights that has significance- I mean it's just a night- why is it built up into a big deal?

I guess on these so called "significant" days, like our birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years eve, Saturdays (kidding on this one), we are supposed to step back and ponder the significance of our lives-what we have been doing and what we hope to accomplish in the coming year.  Or, I'm not sure we are supposed to, but I do. I also tend to reminisce about previous birthdays, Thanksgivings, Christmases or New Years eves- I think because it is a natural thing to do (right?) and also I guess also to see if things have improved.

So this morning when I was doing my power walk/run (running- not so much on account of bum knee, iron poor blood, snow flurries and ridiculously icy wind) I was reminded of a New Year's eve I had when I was about 17.

I remember it was icy cold,(it were the icy cold that jogged my memory this morning), and my brother, Howard, who is 18 months my junior and his two best friends at the time, Lorne and Jeff and I were in Sainte- Agathe -des- Monts, a small town in the Laurentians in northern Quebec. I'm not sure how we got into town.  Lorne and Jeff, or rather their parents, had winterized cottages about 20 minutes away by car, so I don't know if we drove in or were dropped off or what. But the real question is not how, but WHY? Why indeed! Like I said, it was freezing cold- (the wind she blow blow blow) and it was dark, on account of it being eve in the winter.  I was 17 so the boys must have been 16 and none of us could legally get a drink in a bar, even in Quebec. We had a mickey of something- southern comfort or some such rot, which we were passing between us. We also were too poor and cheap to go and eat in a restaurant, so we were just walking around aimlessly. I don't know why I was with them- I guess I had nothing to do so they said come along. I knew Lorne and Jeff sort of like brothers- we had grown up and spent the last 10 summers at the lake together. At one point or another during the last few years we, (and by that I mean the individuals in our small group of friends- about 4 or 5 girls and 4 or 5 guys) were sort of "romantically" and I use that word loosely, involved with each other in various couples, (and at that time all heterosexually, though today I'm sure we would have experimented with "bi" because that is what the cool kids do),because we are all coming of age, geographically isolated in the summer, and learning about sexuality, alcohol and marijuana, so it was a natural thing, right? So I had fooled around with both of them in a pretty innocent, "making out", sort of way (but not together-  that would be kinky).

But really it was the guys who were good friends and they were undeniably and incorrigibly juvenile and immature (ya both dammit). They were laughing, playing with each other- skidding around on the icy streets, making farting noises, and getting drunk. But not drunk enough to take an interest in me. In fact I remember feeling blue, not just cause of the lack of circulation, but because I felt like such a loser.  It was so cold and black and miserable and there was nowhere to go and nothing to do.  I wanted to have a fun and interesting New Years Eve- cause NYE was a big deal and if your NYE went ok it meant things were ok and you were ok and normal and all, so-I wanted somebody -not my brother- do you mind! but one of the guys- Lorne or Jeff to hold hands with me, or walk with his arm around me and act like my boyfriend. I wanted a kiss on NYE as a minimum.

But it didn't happen. And I remember thinking- I could spin it as fun and cool to the outside world but I would know the truth. That I had nothing to do on NYE- and I had to hang out with my younger brother and his buddies, neither of whom was my boyfriend or even date, in the cold and dark and I didn't even get a kiss. I was a New Year's Eve Lonely Heart.

And even though tonight, Mr. Lovely and I will soon be going out for a New Years eve dinner with a group of very close friends and we will be inside (and hence warm) drink champagne, laugh and joke and ring in the New Year together and I believe I will get a kiss (I think Mr. Lovely will oblige), I look back on that NYE with a sadness and a longing- for my youth, for my innocence and naivete, for the edge, for the heartache and my resilience, and know that even though things are better in many ways that there was something bittersweet and important about that experience. It was sort of a big deal.

A Chicago Christmas Tale

A couple of years ago Meg and Phil couldn't come home for Christmas. They were just starting their clinical rotations in Chicago and had to work on Christmas day but had a few days off before that so we, ( Mr. L, Al , Ed & I) decided make the 7&1/2 hour trek to the windy city so we could all be together. If Mohammed won't go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed and all that. They lived in a dodgy part of town in an apartment complex that looked like it would make the perfect set for a murder thriller. I'm not even kidding. The elevator mostly didn't work and so you had to take the stairs which were dimly lit, (when lit) and had some wire fencing around the walls- don't ask me why.  I ran the whole time I was in the stairwell, thinking this could be my last run ever.  We met the owner of the apartment outside the building and he asked who we were and what we were doing there.  Do you mind? Who wants to know? But he actually wanted to help us cause he told us that we were ok ( meaning we would probably live) if we went out of the building and turned right. "Left is Afghanistan, man".  No, we did not want to go left- that's for darn sure. One day we decided to go for an outside run by the lake- right once out of the building. Here we are pre- run:

We're just trying to fit in, man, just trying to blend

Tempted as I was, I have held back on making this photo our family Christmas card. (Plus Phil was taking the shot and he would need to be in it.) Since we were all staying in the apartment and were saving a bunch on accommodation (and rest on account of the creepiness of the place), for a treat, I used Hotwire and got us 3 rooms in a downtown Chicago hotel for the night of Dec 23. We also went out for a vegan meal at Karyn's on Green which served crazy "fude" like fake "crab" cake sliders and "chicken" legs made out of seitan or almond butter. It was really freaky but delicious. Phil and his buddy, Eugene, who joined us for dinner had  enzymes- shots of digestive dietary supplements (ya vegan med students- kooky).

On Christmas eve morning, Al was still on the hunt for his secret Santa present. We do a secret Santa as our Christmas present giving one each, our then 9 year old friend E, (she is now 11 and still doing this for us, thanks E)- picked names out of a hat and emailed them to each of us -$25.00 max. The idea was to "get" the other person in approximately that amount of money. All of us almost always had to spend a  bit more but the aim was to keep it small.

So off we went- out on the streets of Chicago first thing on Dec 24. It was a sunny, crisp morning and I was feeling euphoric, having had a good night's sleep cause I wasn't ascared of getting murdered and as as we cut across Millennium Park to get to the shopping area, the air had a truly magical quality. We were passing the Bean - awesome and it wasn't tourist town. Wow- what a place to have Christmas. I had  wanted to get the family some famous Garrett's gourmet popcorn, (they now ship to Canada, btw- so happy days!) but wasn't quite sure where the store was- so Al and I were sort of rambling. It was pretty cool to be out somewhere new, urban, seeing different people, getting a new perspective on life at a time when we are normally so quiet, traditional and comfortable. There were Santas on many corners, ringing bells, lots of people out an about, big department stores with fanastical displays. A couple of neat things happened- by chance we found Garrett's- it was empty when we went in-not a soul in the place and by the time I had ordered and was paying for the multiple bags of popcorn- it was full- jammed up with people in line behind me and out the door. Where did these people come from?And so fast and quiet. Al said it was like being on the Trueman show with the extras coming late. Also Al and I went to Macy's- a beautiful 6 storey building with awnings and all the trimmings- it was so pretty and full of Christmas hoopla- music, lights, decorations, that I was delighted and wanted to experience it more fully.  A full crowd was waiting for the elevator and Al was the last to get in and everybody except him had turned around to face the door and he said " Now that I have your attention" as though he had summoned them there. Everybody cracked up and there was this easy goodwill between strangers sharing a joke on the morning before Christmas. Great stuff.

That Christmas eve we had a vegetarian meal round a bridge table and my secret Santa present was Mabel (of the Mabeldoyoumind). My secret Santa got me for sure. Knew just what I wanted and needed.

Sally and Mabel

So you you see where I'm going. Tradition is excellent and comforting but so is spicing it up and trying something different. You only live once and who knows- a change in perspective could be refreshing even on Christmas.