The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard. I think it was a recommendation of a reader here, but I'm not sure. Early 1800s, Edgar Allan Poe at West Point, a murder mystery. It drags a little and at times I wish to bitch-slap Mr. Poe, but there's something about this book and its atmosphere.
Music
Gemma Ray- Desoto
TV
In an act of desperation the Husband and I started watching Flip or Flop on HGTV. It's not as bad as I've feared, but I can't wait till Nicole Curtis returns with her loving and history-conscious remodeling projects.
Perfume
Habanita extrait de parfum. I love the EDT (and should really get the EDP), but the velvet smooth parfum is very satisfying.
Makeup
Minimal foundation/tinted moisturizer in celebration of the resurrection of my skin.
Frequently Worn Outfit/Item
A printed DVF scarf in pink/green/black/white. It enlivens the most tired dresses and navy cardigans.
Shame-Inducing Guilty-Pleasure
Staying up reading until 2 or 3 am, knowing that I won't be able to wake up before nine or ten..
 |
| Miss Olivia |
Bane
Yesterday Olivia decided that my favorite comforter needed to be torn to shreds. She went digging in the filling and made a big mess, transferring our bedroom into a hen house after a visit from a fox. It's the first incident like this in a lifetime of living with cats. Critter is lucky she's so cute.
Joy
On top of a major overhaul of the perfume storage, I also spent the last day and a half going over the makeup cabinets in my dressing room, de-cluttering and rearranging. I have more plans for that room.I'm a freak.
Anticipation
A further expansion of the perfume cabinets. I have yet more plans.
Wishlist
I'm a major fan of Hungarian brand TheBétaVersion. I aready have their Frida bag, but now I absolutely must have the Flora. It's larger and will hold all the stuff I tend to carry at fall/winter.
Random Thought
I dearly wish to never have heard of the Duggars.
How are you doing? Please share your current loves, banes, recommendations, and random thoughts.
Art: Deborah Klein- Woman on the Beach.
I can't believe you said the ''D'' word in public! Shame on you...hand slap.....That word is not allowed in my household or on my computer screen! ;)
ReplyDeleteI know... I'm totally ashamed of myself. at least I never watched the show (and never ever will. Not in a million years).
DeleteThat Miss Olivia does not look in the least ashamed .......
ReplyDeleteShe has behaved a bit like a dog. One of my cats likes to bury his toy mice and fish underneath blankets and duvets, just like a dog with a bone. I suspect his motive is to hide things from his brother. I wonder what Olivia's justification might be?
Jillie
Olivia is big into digging. Usually she just burrows under the cover, with or without one of her toys. I guess she thought it would be fun.
DeleteLove the pictures of your cats - how many do you have? If you decline to answer, I'll understand. I had 4...I'm down to 2 - 16 1/2 and almost 15. Sedona is a senile old lady...Jett Black is a love and still doing very well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about wishing I had never heard about the Duggars - except that my 9 year old granddaughter is facinated with them, and at least I know there won't be anything inappropriate for her.
Let's say that I have enough to qualify as a crazy cat lady ;)
DeleteI get what you mean about the Duggars, but to me, their obsession about not experiencing intimacy of any kind is kind of inappropriate in itself. I wouldn't want to explain to my six and seven year old nieces and nephews what it's all about.
I have explained to my granddaughter about how odd it is that they don't hold hands until engagement and save their first kiss until marriage. I just told her that is what they decided to do, and it's ok for them, but I and most people think it's totally fine for teenagers to hold hands and kiss their boyfriends/girlfriends as long as they are both happy with doing that.
DeleteWell, now that you ask, I read numerous blogs of various sorts. But I really cannot live without yours! I look forward to it daily.
ReplyDeletePerfume – with deepest of sadness, I am anosmic and have been so since 2009. I am lucky that it does come and go. I would say that ambers, when I can smell are the perfumes I love best. And Serge Lutens and Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier are my favs. My favorite of all time was from Spain until it was discontinued: Aura. I have found it on EBay. They make a new one that is not at all the same. Also, Fig by Mandy Aftel.
TV – Doc Martin and Downtown Abbey.
Music – all.
Book(s) I am about to read Susan Sontag’s diaries.
Make-up – Cle de Peau
Clothing – Flax. I once opened a boutique; I loved this brand so much.
Guilty Pleasure – unfortunately, staying up way too late.
Bane – none.
Joy – husband, cats and dogs.
Anticipation – of the next time I can smell something.
Seriously, thank you for your delightful blog. If you can ever get an “old” bottle (EDP I think) of Loewe’s Aura try it out.
Wish list: Ha! I just found it after about 20-30 years of looking. It is a tiny LV square bag on a long shoulder strap, about the size of two packs of cigarettes.
I do not have any idea what duggars are but I am looking forward to my daughter’s visit at the end of October.
Thank you so much, Liz. You made my day. Now off to look for a bottle of Aura... (and, yes, Mandy's Fig is awesome.
DeleteThis is always fun...
ReplyDeleteBook-Just starting The Goldfinch.
Music-Carly Simon & James Taylor...Mockingbird (Sorry, I'm old!)
TV-The husband has been counting days since the Superbowl...it's FOOTBALL, YA'LL (The South, what can I say?...Go Gamecocks!).
Perfume-Poivre 23
Makeup-The new Dior 5 couleurs eye shadow compacts, plus "matching" lipstick & nail polish
Outfit/Item-Leopard Short Boots
Guilty Pleasure-Can't think of a thing.
Bane-Psoriatic Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Depression, Anxiety, Anemia, i.e. FATIGUE
Joy-Happily surviving the above
Anticipation-The husband is turning our too-big laundry room into a reading nook for me, and making a smaller, more useful laundry.
With List-More remodeling!
Random Thought-Not mine, but Jimi Hendrix's..."Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens."
A reading nook sounds delightful. Laundry has no business taking up prime real estate.
DeleteI'm with you on remodeling. I'm itching to do so much, from minor things, such as replacing all the window treatments, to a drastic change in my dressing room (it's one of the spare bedrooms, actually, that we turned into my closet and makeup room. The perfume collection is in the bedroom).
Wishing you rest and pain-free days.
Miss Olivia! All delightful things.
ReplyDeleteShe is a sweet little thing, isn't she? I can't even stay mad.
DeleteMiss Olivia is cute indeed. We once had a kitty named Calcutta who was so angry that we had gone away on vacation, that when we came back she urinated on our down comforter. Our current girl loves to pounce on our toes through the down cover, first thing in the morning when she wants to be fed.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see how you organize your makeup stash. I am always looking for ways to make my stash a little more organized.
Skin resurrection!! I'd love to hear how you accomplished that. Or did I already miss that post? My skin could use a little resurrecting right about now.
Current read- Gone Girl
Current TV - Back episodes of Parks & Recreation and Salamander, a Belgian drama on Netflix.
I do plan on a makeup organization post, though I'm in no way fully content with the way things are.
DeleteI did write a little about my skin resurrection process. Have a look at my skincare routine post from a few weeks back. But the main thing was eliminating the things that caused trouble: multivitamins (not to mention the Biotin that nearly destroyed my face last year), and sadly: anything with coconut from my date (and hair care). It turns out that I'm extremely allergic. To get things back on track I've been using AHA, BHA, Paula's Choice vitamin C serum, and regular massages with that funny propolis cream. It decongests, heals, nourishes, and makes my skin look and feel awesome.
Am currently extremely interested in what the outcome of the Scottish vote will be. And am really looking forward to trying the new scent from Mandy. I just ordered a sample - am hoping/trusting bottles will follow.
ReplyDeleteVery little TV at the moment, but college football season has started and DH is an avid fan (not as obsessed as he is with basketball, but close enough that it rules our weekends).
Reading Reginald Hill's Pictures of Perfection and Ngaio Marsh's Opening Night (nicely ordered British mysteries suit my current mood).
With a face and personality like that, I'd forgive Miss Olivia absolutely anything. That photo of her is brilliant. Two of our children are convinced that any leather furniture in our home was specifically purchased for them to enhance with the unique patterns they could create on them via vigorous, artistic scratching. Yes, we have plenty of official scratching options all over our home for them and the other cats find them to be sufficient, but these two children just couldn't resist the artistic possibilities of leather surfaces. Adore them too much to fuss - they meant well. Maybe Miss Olivia was thinking of it as performance art? We did try putting those sticky sheets that cats are supposed to not like all over the furniture, but our children apparently failed to read the packaging claims about it being offensive and went crazy licking the adhesive covered sheets like they were some sort of gourmet treat - obviously not healthy and we immediately removed them. We've simply had to suck it up and accept that we will never again purchase any leather or suede furniture for our home.
Organizing is deeply, deeply soul satisfying. I need to find the energy and time to do more of it and soon.
Anna
Anna, we call it the "distressed leather" look :) But actually, except for accidentally running and slipping on the back of the sofa, or trying to climb somewhere, our cats don't seem to be interested in scratching leather (which is why we bought these furniture when we realized that). They'd rather sharpen their nails on the area rugs, despite a variety of scratching posts and furniture (including a custom 6' cat condo).
DeleteI'll have a look at the British mysteries. Sound great. And, yes, I'm also curious about Scottland. I can't imagine the United Kingdom not being so united.
I am relieved the vote turned out as it did. DH and I joke about wishing we could rejoin the UK...but DH worries a bit about how much I might be joking and how much I might actually wish it were so. :-) However, in a silent sort of gesture of sympathy for all the Scots who wanted independence I'm wearing CB's Cumming today. I hope they can come to some sort of post-vote reconciliation.
DeleteOur local pet store has a very stylish and huge cat condo I'm coveting in a major way.
Anna
Perfume – I've been all about Arabian Oud's Ghroob Oil lately (I have a bottle coming my way, eeee!), and today I ordered a vintage bottle of Montana Parfum de Peau. Also, lots and lots of Jardin d'Ecrivans George.
ReplyDeleteTV – Can I just substitute video games here?
Music – New Interpol, and I'm anxiously awaiting the new Flying Lotus album too. Seeing both acts live this fall, and I cannot wait.
Book - I need something new to read. Time to go to Strand. I've been wanting a copy of Sontag's "Against Interpretation."
Make-up – The Stila Eyes Are The Window Shadow Palette in Soul has kind of been my everything lately. It might be my holy grail palette. At least for right now it is. Also, the Ardency Inn pigments are amazing. You NEED Hell. Just sayin'.
Clothing – I've been on a booties kick lately. Bought a few new pairs, and I've been pairing them with my assortment of skinny jeans, leggings, and drapey tops. H&M has had the cutest tops lately so I've been buying them by the handful.
Guilty Pleasure – Too much beer lately, eek. I'm going to get fat!
Bane – Sigh, too many to list but I'd rather not focus on them right now.
Joy – My upcoming time off, and my scheduled trips to Zurich and Clermont-Ferrand in November!
Anticipation – See my "Joy" items. I'm off tomorrow and I am hoping to do something fun. I feel like I never really do anything fun. Maybe I will go to the Brooklyn Museum and see the Killer Heels exhibit.
Wish list: The Rebecca Minkoff Bowery Tote, new jeans, and a shopping trip to Strand.
Random thought: I really want a burger.
"You need Hell".... yup, that sounds about right ;)
DeleteI also bought the new Interpol. It's great.
You can have a lot of cats and not be judged for it, but the Duggars should be judged on having a lot of kids?
ReplyDeleteHardly the same thing! Besides, the Duggars have gone beyond "a lot" of kids. Way beyond.
DeleteI don't really care how many kids the Duggars have but I do believe that in this age of over-population, dwindling resources, and man-made climate change, giving birth to nineteen kids would be considered by many people to be irresponsible. Even the title of the show "19 Kids and Counting" would offend many people. Having a large family and leading an insular life; however, is the Duggars business and so long as they are not abusive, neglectful, or irresponsible in the care of their kids, it's none of my concern. I simply consign their TV show to the Honey Boo Boo category of "reality" entertainment.
ReplyDeleteAs for your faulty kids/cats analogy, giving birth to nineteen kids does not equate to adopting nineteen cats. And, you are wrong when you state a person can have a lot of cats and not be judged. Have you never heard the expression "crazy cat lady"? LOL
Bottom line: People can love/hate, approve/disapprove, respect/disrespect the Duggars. It's all OK because the Duggars have chosen to open their family up to scrutiny and judgement in order to make a lot of money. That's the trade off and the Duggars knew what they were getting into when they agreed to let cameras into their life.
Book
ReplyDeletePodrostok by Fedor Dostoevsky
Music
Morrissey!
http://vimeo.com/9541808
TV
Stolberg (German police series)
Perfume
Have enjoyed La Fin du Monde a lot lately, another one I've felt great in is Premier Figuier Extrême.
Makeup
Red lippie, green nails
Anticipation
Autumn (it's still unusually summery)
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI too miss Rehab Addict so much. The other day I saw part of "Daryl's Restoration Over-Haul" on DIY. You might like it, or at least it might help fill the void till Rehab Addict is back.
Sorry, just watched a full episode and even I know the windows that go up and down are called DOUBLE HUNG not single hung and I'm not an expert. Anonymous 9/20/2014 5:47 PM.
Delete