A little typography giggle.
http://www.ironicsans.com/2008/02/idea_a_new_typography_term.html
Friday, February 29, 2008
Waiting for Mrs. Peel (a long ride on the perfume and whiskey train of thought).
Where to begin with this story? Four years ago in India I spent $1.50 on a small bottle of scented oil. Something made me decide to wear it on my wedding day, but I didn't really wear it regularly till the first time I went to NYC. Suddenly "Kashmiri oil" only makes me think of Manhattan. Kind of funny. This bottle is dangerously close to be finished and I've been wondering for a while now if there's anything I can do to try to match it. I've looked up places specializing in scented oils and also custom perfume blenders. Nothing that I have managed to actually give a good effort to has paid off yet though. I had first read about CB I Hate Perfume while looking for customer blenders. This guy's studio is in Brooklyn. I wondered if I could make it out there last January, but it didn't happen.What did happen in Brooklyn last January was the night on the town that would eventually result in the infamous hangover at a certain jewelry story on Fifth Avenue. The first round was a fabulous champagne cocktail at Dressler in Williamsburg. I absolutely adored the metalwork interior. CF and I have an agreement that someday we will have a date there. This cocktail was apparently the bartender's specialty. I can't remember the minor ingredients but it was mostly made up of champagne and whiskey! Delicious.
I had acquired the taste for whiskey during our month in Ireland. While visiting a distillery the options for sampling at the end of the tour were straight or mixed with cranberry juice, or ginger ale. I decided to go with the ginger ale... and while many of the ladies on the trip were handing their glasses over to certain eager-to-help-out fellows, I found myself a new favorite drink! I drank whiskey and ginger ales a good chunk of the rest of the trip. And it was our last round on the last night.
Somehow, I recently started thinking about the whiskey and champagne cocktail (please note, there are two different drinks we are talking about here), wondering if anyone online had ever talked about the delicious concoction. I did a Google search for "dressler whiskey" and the only special result I found was my own Yelp review of the place. But I did find an interesting tangent. The personal journal of CB, of CB I Hate Perfume, the very perfumer I had meant to go see a year ago!
this is a very casual perfume based on a cocktail i seem to have invented over the summer. i was sitting at the bar at "dressler" back in june waiting for some friends. when the barman asked me if i'd like a drink, i knew that i did but couldn't begin to figure out what. i'm not a huge cocktail fan, don't much care for basic wine and vodka seemed a little boring...What's this? A perfume based on whiskey and ginger ale? Yes, please! His journal is quite a fun read. He talks about lots of different things but it always manages to relate back to scents. I suggest checking it out!
so after 10 minutes of hard thought, i thought i'd try a bit of whiskey, some gingerale and a slice of cucumber...
http://www.cbihateperfume.com/CBjournal.html
Today I tried to find a new perfume to help me get over the Kashmiri oil that will likely never be refilled. Aveda's new high end perfume that I've talked about before? I tried some on so I could see how I liked it on me over time. Turns out I just feel like I stink like a hippie when I wear it. Very earthy, not the fancy pick-me-up I was hoping fore. I'm sure it's great on some people. But not on me. I tried on a bunch of scents at Anthropologie as well, nothing was quite right either. So my failed perfume shopping experience made me wonder about CB and his cocktail scent.
I read up on what I could fine out online. He talks about this in the very next entry...
still i have been able to make some progress. i decided on what to call my cocktail scent. i'm going to name it after one of my very favorite women of all time. she fascinated me as a child and i always imagined i'd marry her when i grew up. i still wouldn't mind...I love the champagne mention. Sort of ties this long train of thought all together. Looks like it was about to be released in the fall but now he's holding it until spring because it's a better scent to wear in warmer weather. There's a shop in Berkeley called Herringbone that sells his scents, I hope when the time comes I can find Mrs. Peel there. Nothing to do but wait and see.
she's a woman i've always admired - smart, charming, beautiful and a snappy dresser. she knows exactly what to do in every possible situation & is also very adept at getting herself out of some pretty serious jams.
although she drinks largely champagne, i can still imagine that every now and then after a particularly trying day, she might curl up on her sofa & sip a bit of whiskey, gingerale with a slice of cucumber.
so in honor of her, i've decided to call my cocktail - Mrs Peel.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Horrified and fascinated!
Oh no, they didn't!
I love it and hate it so!
On a less horrified note, I can't wait to see Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day! Who's going with me?
Last weekend's wedding event was a smashing success! I got to show the head of invitations (for the whole company) my stuff, and juggled a million and a half brides. The Oscar party was also loads of fun. I wish I had orchestrated things just a bit better so we could have played some trivia before the show instead of watching too close to the start time and ending up having to watch commercials! Someone host a game night soon! Or maybe I will. Mr. PdP took home the Juno soundtrack for predicting the most winners and Mr. MP took home the soundtrack to Once for predicting the most answers to our Bonus Questions. I'm not sure he's enjoying it. I'd love to hear it so maybe I'll get it back from him and get him something else! Hollywood glamor let down a little, nothing I could Oooo or Ahhhh over, really. But overall the ladies looked lovely. Considering they didn't have much notice... things could have been worse.
We're cooking up anniversary plans... half a lifetime together! I can't believe it. CF is "threatening" to book tickets to NYC if I don't commit to a plan soon. Does he think I'm going to make any decisions now? Other ideas I've kicked around include hiring someone to clean our house before the four days I have off from work, hiring a personal chef for dinner the night of our anniversary (the first of the four days) and maybe having someone come over for massages (we always seem to get massages on our anniversary). Or maybe going a little further like a night out in the city. Domino magazine just did a feature on some great shops in Savannah, and suddenly I wondered what the weather is like there in March. We got married on a beautiful March 27th but ALL of our anniversaries have featured rain. Anyways, whatever we do, I will just be overwhelmed with the fact that I have been with this guy for half my life. Sometimes I wonder if I can function without him around. Yes, I know I can. But I'm better when I'm backed up by my other half. I used to resent the fact that about 99% of the people we know never knew me before he was around and seem to know him singly and then us as a couple. What about me?!?! Well, I've tried to become a better singular me, and also a better member of the team over the past couple years. Isn't it funny that both things can be true?
I love it and hate it so!
On a less horrified note, I can't wait to see Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day! Who's going with me?
Last weekend's wedding event was a smashing success! I got to show the head of invitations (for the whole company) my stuff, and juggled a million and a half brides. The Oscar party was also loads of fun. I wish I had orchestrated things just a bit better so we could have played some trivia before the show instead of watching too close to the start time and ending up having to watch commercials! Someone host a game night soon! Or maybe I will. Mr. PdP took home the Juno soundtrack for predicting the most winners and Mr. MP took home the soundtrack to Once for predicting the most answers to our Bonus Questions. I'm not sure he's enjoying it. I'd love to hear it so maybe I'll get it back from him and get him something else! Hollywood glamor let down a little, nothing I could Oooo or Ahhhh over, really. But overall the ladies looked lovely. Considering they didn't have much notice... things could have been worse.
We're cooking up anniversary plans... half a lifetime together! I can't believe it. CF is "threatening" to book tickets to NYC if I don't commit to a plan soon. Does he think I'm going to make any decisions now? Other ideas I've kicked around include hiring someone to clean our house before the four days I have off from work, hiring a personal chef for dinner the night of our anniversary (the first of the four days) and maybe having someone come over for massages (we always seem to get massages on our anniversary). Or maybe going a little further like a night out in the city. Domino magazine just did a feature on some great shops in Savannah, and suddenly I wondered what the weather is like there in March. We got married on a beautiful March 27th but ALL of our anniversaries have featured rain. Anyways, whatever we do, I will just be overwhelmed with the fact that I have been with this guy for half my life. Sometimes I wonder if I can function without him around. Yes, I know I can. But I'm better when I'm backed up by my other half. I used to resent the fact that about 99% of the people we know never knew me before he was around and seem to know him singly and then us as a couple. What about me?!?! Well, I've tried to become a better singular me, and also a better member of the team over the past couple years. Isn't it funny that both things can be true?
Friday, February 22, 2008
Over-rejected.
Some of you may have known that I applied again for a job that I interviewed for in 2006. Last time I was turned down although I was told my feedback was extremely positive I just didn't have the level of customer service experience that they were looking for. So when I noticed this job was posted again I thought I might as well try sending in my resume (after all, I have exactly what I was missing last time) and see if it got me anywhere. Well, it did not. Which should have made me more excited about the fact that within the year we will probably be opening another store closer to home and I will most certainly be going there because, well, the drive is getting old, plus I'd bring some new-store experience with me. But actually, getting rejected somehow made me like my job less. It suddenly feels so permanent, I don't even know what I would want to do next, let alone what I'll even have the opportunity for. Is it so much to ask for in life to have a goal? To just want something? So here I am, utterly lost as ever.
About two weeks ago now the floor of our downstairs bathroom started to be really wet after a shower. At first I thought I had somehow pointed the showerhead just right at the door so water got out, or somehow my hair dripped more than usual after I got out. Nope. We soon figured out that the tile was starting to get soggy, as was the carpet on either side of the bathroom walls! We got our home owner's insurance involved and they set us up with a crew of water damage cleaners. They ripped out all the tile and then we could see quite plainly that more water was still running out of the walls, into the floor. So today some plumbers came to the house and ripped out our sink and shower. Yikes. They managed to find the leak though. Teeny tiny hole, big problem. He handed me the wayward pipe so I could show it to the insurance adjuster. This little pipe as totally wiped out our downstairs bathroom. It's sort of hilarious though. We were just getting started on planning a mostly cosmetic remodel for our upstairs bathroom, wishing we could just put in a cool shower instead of a shower/tub combo, but there was no tub downstairs so we felt obligated to put a tub in this bathroom. Well, now we've got one destroyed bathroom and one ugly pink bathroom... perhaps we'll get what we want after all. I just could have done without getting it this way! Last weekend I started to freak out a little that I was hanging out with my family for most of Saturday, had to go to work on Sunday, was planning on going wedding dress shopping with KM on Tuesday, and was planning on going to see Ms. shoppingsmycardio on Friday. I might be social and talkative but I need my days at home too. Well, I had to cancels plans on both of my days off because I had to be here while people were working on tearing apart that little room. Be careful what you wish for!
Tomorrow is a big event at the store. Let's hope the weather doesn't keep too many people away. At least there might be fewer people just wandering through, I like being able to focus my attentions on the people with real interest and projects going on. I don't mean to be a snob! Then Sunday we're having the return of our Oscars viewing party. We drag the television out of its hiding spot in the extra bedroom we have disguised as a den. I've got the ballot just about ready to print. And I believe we've settled on a party menu, hopefully people will understand if it's a bit simpler than usual. Neither of us have the brain power to be completely brilliant right now.
Speaking of brilliant... Company finally aired on PBS this week. I saw it last January on Broadway, it ran till July and I read that two of the final performances were filmed. I know I'm a horrible nerd, but I have never been so excited to watch Great Performances. It's shameful though. I didn't manage to get to 6am spin the next morning because I had stayed up too late watching PBS! Aren't I just awful?
About two weeks ago now the floor of our downstairs bathroom started to be really wet after a shower. At first I thought I had somehow pointed the showerhead just right at the door so water got out, or somehow my hair dripped more than usual after I got out. Nope. We soon figured out that the tile was starting to get soggy, as was the carpet on either side of the bathroom walls! We got our home owner's insurance involved and they set us up with a crew of water damage cleaners. They ripped out all the tile and then we could see quite plainly that more water was still running out of the walls, into the floor. So today some plumbers came to the house and ripped out our sink and shower. Yikes. They managed to find the leak though. Teeny tiny hole, big problem. He handed me the wayward pipe so I could show it to the insurance adjuster. This little pipe as totally wiped out our downstairs bathroom. It's sort of hilarious though. We were just getting started on planning a mostly cosmetic remodel for our upstairs bathroom, wishing we could just put in a cool shower instead of a shower/tub combo, but there was no tub downstairs so we felt obligated to put a tub in this bathroom. Well, now we've got one destroyed bathroom and one ugly pink bathroom... perhaps we'll get what we want after all. I just could have done without getting it this way! Last weekend I started to freak out a little that I was hanging out with my family for most of Saturday, had to go to work on Sunday, was planning on going wedding dress shopping with KM on Tuesday, and was planning on going to see Ms. shoppingsmycardio on Friday. I might be social and talkative but I need my days at home too. Well, I had to cancels plans on both of my days off because I had to be here while people were working on tearing apart that little room. Be careful what you wish for!
Tomorrow is a big event at the store. Let's hope the weather doesn't keep too many people away. At least there might be fewer people just wandering through, I like being able to focus my attentions on the people with real interest and projects going on. I don't mean to be a snob! Then Sunday we're having the return of our Oscars viewing party. We drag the television out of its hiding spot in the extra bedroom we have disguised as a den. I've got the ballot just about ready to print. And I believe we've settled on a party menu, hopefully people will understand if it's a bit simpler than usual. Neither of us have the brain power to be completely brilliant right now.
Speaking of brilliant... Company finally aired on PBS this week. I saw it last January on Broadway, it ran till July and I read that two of the final performances were filmed. I know I'm a horrible nerd, but I have never been so excited to watch Great Performances. It's shameful though. I didn't manage to get to 6am spin the next morning because I had stayed up too late watching PBS! Aren't I just awful?
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Chance in hell...
I was thinking about my recent non-blogging and how every time I thought of something to write I would think, "Oh, but I have to write about [blank] first..." and then it snowballed so much that I can't even remember everything I was going to write about! Let's just jump in with what's going on right now.
In the past month I've been doing a damn good job of getting more exercise than I was basically any time since starting my job last spring. Mostly I do two or three morning spin classes a week (who knew I could learn to get up for a 6am class?) and work out with Ms. LT twice a week. The past week has really kicked my butt. I did upper body strength Wednesday evening, got up early for spin Thursday morning, and then did a killer all over strength training session on Friday, and THEN went and walked up the hill for over an hour. I was sore on Saturday but it felt great, I haven't been sore like that in a long time. Waking the hill is really cool right now, the sun is shining but it's not hot by any means, people are working in their gardens, and everyone is smiling. I try to take at least one block that I've never seen before each time and I've ended up discovering some amazing views up there. It's fantastic.
January was a slow month at work, the weather sucked so no one wanted to shop in our lovely LA style shopping center. February rolled around, the clouds broke, the sun came out, wedding season is coming and BAM! Suddenly we're several days ahead in sales goals. We're scrambling to cover the days with the hours we're allotted after last months less than stellar sales... it's crazy! A lease is either signed or will be signed soon that will lead to a store opening up much closer to home, so the potential to switch to that store is very exciting. It's got all kinds of thoughts swirling in my head.
Ms. KM has lost her mind and has decided to have her wedding this year. Actually she's made an amazing decision to scale down the party plans and put most of their wedding budget towards a down payment instead. Can you believe someone was actually strong enough to make that decision? So we've got to find a dress as soon as possible, and most likely off the rack. She has been kind enough to let me assist. I have been something of a good luck charm to at least two other brides in the past, and since she and I look so similar now and I would kill to be able to inject the me I am now into the wonderful wedding I had four years ago... well, I'm shopping vicariously with her. The heartbreaking thing is the reality of working in a retail environment, she wishes everyone could attend the wedding but the sad truth is that the store needs a staff. I'm not sure what's going to happen with this one. It's sort of an all-or-nothing kind of thing, it's possible she won't be able to invite anyone from work to the wedding. Isn't that awful?
There's so much else going on but I won't try to cover it all right now. I heard the writer's strike might be over. I still haven't seen confirmation that the Oscars are a go, but it would seem the big show will actually go on! I've been enjoying some new tunes, some of them I've already shared here. More soon!
In the past month I've been doing a damn good job of getting more exercise than I was basically any time since starting my job last spring. Mostly I do two or three morning spin classes a week (who knew I could learn to get up for a 6am class?) and work out with Ms. LT twice a week. The past week has really kicked my butt. I did upper body strength Wednesday evening, got up early for spin Thursday morning, and then did a killer all over strength training session on Friday, and THEN went and walked up the hill for over an hour. I was sore on Saturday but it felt great, I haven't been sore like that in a long time. Waking the hill is really cool right now, the sun is shining but it's not hot by any means, people are working in their gardens, and everyone is smiling. I try to take at least one block that I've never seen before each time and I've ended up discovering some amazing views up there. It's fantastic.
January was a slow month at work, the weather sucked so no one wanted to shop in our lovely LA style shopping center. February rolled around, the clouds broke, the sun came out, wedding season is coming and BAM! Suddenly we're several days ahead in sales goals. We're scrambling to cover the days with the hours we're allotted after last months less than stellar sales... it's crazy! A lease is either signed or will be signed soon that will lead to a store opening up much closer to home, so the potential to switch to that store is very exciting. It's got all kinds of thoughts swirling in my head.
Ms. KM has lost her mind and has decided to have her wedding this year. Actually she's made an amazing decision to scale down the party plans and put most of their wedding budget towards a down payment instead. Can you believe someone was actually strong enough to make that decision? So we've got to find a dress as soon as possible, and most likely off the rack. She has been kind enough to let me assist. I have been something of a good luck charm to at least two other brides in the past, and since she and I look so similar now and I would kill to be able to inject the me I am now into the wonderful wedding I had four years ago... well, I'm shopping vicariously with her. The heartbreaking thing is the reality of working in a retail environment, she wishes everyone could attend the wedding but the sad truth is that the store needs a staff. I'm not sure what's going to happen with this one. It's sort of an all-or-nothing kind of thing, it's possible she won't be able to invite anyone from work to the wedding. Isn't that awful?
There's so much else going on but I won't try to cover it all right now. I heard the writer's strike might be over. I still haven't seen confirmation that the Oscars are a go, but it would seem the big show will actually go on! I've been enjoying some new tunes, some of them I've already shared here. More soon!
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