lifestyle

Scent Eras

/ rachelgoes262 / 3 Comments

A few years ago, I did a post called Signature Scent. While I still stand by the idea that I do not need 3-4 (or more) scents, the idea of only having one is a Fantasy Self. While I enjoyed Coco Mademoiselle, it made me realize that I am the type of person who prefers to have a summer scent and a winter scent. Wearing one scent all the time felt weird and got boring. 

When I ran out of Chanel, I also realized that I am not about to spend another $120 (or more!) on another bottle of perfume. I may like the idea of being someone who wears Chanel, but I can’t afford that lifestyle. I am content to say that I have had one bottle of genuine Chanel perfume in my life. I enjoyed it. 

I thought long and hard about what I wanted for a summer scent, what I wanted for a winter scent, pricing, and what that looks like. In my last post reminiscing about perfume, I was mostly thinking of the 80s and early 90s. This time, my brain went to the scent memories of the late 90s through about 2013. 

These scent memories of nearly 20 years took me back to Bath and Body Works. I did not realize how much those scents dominated my life for well over a decade. While it’s nice to take a walk down memory lane, I also realize that most of those times are not memories I want to revisit on a regular basis. I need new scents. 

However, while strolling down memory lane, I realized that the first scent I loved from Bath and Body Works was Country Apple from the late 90s. Thinking about it some more, I seem to be chasing that elusive apple smell in various forms and various ways ever since.

Country Apple was given to me as a gift at a time when I was homeless. I remember feeling so rich that I had a bottle of that apple lotion, and it was one of my most precious possessions at the time. 

Pearberry was a scent I wore for many years when I first moved from Massachusetts to New York. I remember I had eras of Sweet Pea and Moonlight Path.

Coconut Lime Verbana was a favorite for many years when I was teaching pre-school. I have lost memories of a Secret Wonderland era. Honestly, it took me a long time to remember Secret Wonderland. I’m not sure why I blocked it. Something must have happened. 

The last scent I remember having and enjoying was Forever Red. Forever Red is another era that is slightly fuzzy. Who knows what happened during those years. I’m pretty sure Forever Red was the end of my Bath and Body Works era before I switched to the Victoria’s Secret Fragrances.

In realizing that I want a summer scent and a winter scent, I figured that Bath and Body Works is the way to go as the most affordable option. They offer a wide variety of choices.

After doing my research on scents and knowing how I tend to gravitate, I have chosen Sweet Kiwi and Starfruit as my summer scent. There was a buy two – get one free sale, so I got the body lotion, body cream, and scent spray.

In doing my research on scents for winter, I am thinking of going with either Champagne Apple Honey or Ghoul Friend when they come out this fall for Halloween. We will see. I’ve been chasing that elusive apple scent for decades now. I don’t know what it is about apple. I even get apple dish soap when it’s available. 

No, I do not like Winter Candy Apple.

There are two retired scents (Be Enchanted and Bali Mango) that will be making a comeback for the Semi-Annual Sale this summer. While I am tempted by them, I don’t want scents from the past. I don’t live there. Even though I did not have either of those scents when they were out originally, I want new scents to create new memories. 

This summer I smell like a starfruit. It may not be practical, but I’m a middle-aged woman and I will smell like a starfruit if I want to. You don’t need to like it. It makes me happy. 

To be honest, there are two other summer scents I am interested in (At the Beach and Ocean), but I am resolute in keeping myself to one summer scent and one winter scent. I do not want to end up with 3-4 scents again that I am not able to use before they go sour. I did get two Ocean air fresheners as a splurge and have one in the car right now. I am enjoying it immensely. 

It was nice remembering scents I used to enjoy, but I don’t want to relive memories of those times. This summer will be my starfruit summer. Hopefully there will be some good memories for my new summer scent. 

Do you have a summer scent and a winter scent? Have you had scent eras? Sometimes a new fragrance can be a fresh start when it is connected to memory. 

Minimalism: Approaching Maintenance

/ rachelgoes262 / Leave a comment

My minimalism journey is now entering its 12th year. That’s a long time. For those of you feeling discouraged with your decluttering efforts, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. That’s how much stuff I had to get rid of. I spent over 30 years accumulating, and over a decade trying to pare it all down.

The one area of my house that I am still working on minimizing is my CD collection. As you know from previous posts, this is the most difficult area for me due to my love of music. For the longest time, I would declutter anything in the house EXCEPT the CDs. 

My thinking now is that I only want to keep albums I truly enjoy. Those CDs where you pop them in the player and truly enjoy the entire disc. I’m not keeping a CD if there is only one or two songs on there that I like. We have YouTube for things like that. I’m not a huge fan of digital music, but I find it easier to just Youtube one song on the rare occasion I want to hear it instead of holding onto an entire CD for just one song.

One strategy that I use frequently in my decluttering efforts is that I will only keep items that fit in the space available. For example, if I don’t have enough room in the cupboard for all the coffee mugs, then it is time to declutter the coffee mugs and only keep what fits in the cabinet.

In decluttering my CDs, I have done the same thing. However, with CDs, I used to have 3 different pieces of furniture holding my CD collection. I am now downsizing my CDs to the point where there is only one piece of furniture holding my CD collection. That is two pieces of furniture I can get rid of also.

Once my CDs are minimized, I will be at maintenance minimalism. Maintenance minimalism is all about being a good gatekeeper. At this point, my goal is to only bring into my home consumables (food) and things I absolutely need.

Do I have some items that are completely unnecessary to the point they could be considered” clutter?” Yes, I do. I have 5 squishmallows. Do I need 5 squishmallows? No. They are probably considered clutter. However, they bring me joy and have use as pillows when needed. I enjoy them, so they stay. 

There is still a room full of donations upstairs. Everything in that room needs to leave and be donated. It will have to wait until spring when the weather is better and when I can find places to donate items. Some larger pieces, like the bookcase and extra outside chairs will just go out front with a “free” sign. They are too large to fight with to transport in my car to take someplace to donate. I could fit them in my car if necessary, but I don’t want to deal with it.

Apart from emptying the donation room and completing the minimizing of my CD collection, I am done. I am officially at the maintenance phase of my minimalist journey. 

There are a few random items that will be donated or trashed when I move. Some things in this house I am using now but will not take with me when I leave. However, I feel that I have now downsized this house to the point where I am either actively using everything here or the item brings me so much joy (hello, squishmallows) that they are staying.

My biggest challenge right now is going to be getting rid of everything in the donation room this spring. Donation centers in my area have closed. It is extremely difficult trying to figure out how to get rid of things, so they do not end up in the landfill. I also have a small box of electronics that I must figure out how to recycle.

While I may be approaching the maintenance phase of my minimalism journey, this blog will continue. There are always things to minimize in life including routines and digital items.

My goal with minimalism is to make this house and my surroundings as easy to care for as possible so that I can enjoy life. I don’t want to spend all my time cleaning. I want to spend my time with those I love.

That’s the true goal of minimalism – not a set number of things. The goal is to make life about love and not about stuff.