I know I already wrote about a fragrance I like from Bath & Body Works, but this is a limited time holiday scent so I had to write about it now before it was gone forever.
Or until next year. Whatever.
I picked up the shower gel and body creme in the Twisted Peppermint scent on a whim from Bath & Body Works, and I can’t get enough of them. The minty aroma is sparkling, but not cloying. It has an undertone of white sugar so it’s not too overwhelming. In fact, if I had to describe it, I’d say it smelled an awful lot like a York Peppermint Patty – sweetly minty. If that’s not your thing, this isn’t the scent for you.
I also have to say that using this shower gel in a steamy shower really wakes you up – think of the nice contrast of a steamy shower and the cool mint. It’s a refreshing combination on a Monday morning when you can barely open your eyes.
I will say, though, that I wish they offered the scent in their moisturizing body wash formula instead of just a “shimmering” shower gel. I almost didn’t try it, but the sales assistant let me know that the shimmer is really only visible in the bottle, not on your skin (and she was right). Still, though, in the winter my dry skin prefers the moisturizing body wash. The body creme, though, does help my skin after the shower. Plus, it helps the smell of the minty goodness linger for a while (hmmmm.).
While the fate of Pushing Daisies still isn’t clear, I figured this is a good time to recommend another Lee Pace vehicle: The Fall.
The Fall suffers from what I call GESWBN disease: Great Entertainment Saddled With Bad Name (see also: So You Think You Can Dance? and Life on NBC). Because while “The Fall” sounds like it might be about Adam & Eve, or fallen angels, or even something demonic, in reality it’s nothing of the sort. It’s a fairy tale.
Here’s a synopsis I pulled from IMDB:
In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastical story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.
They aren’t kidding when they say “vivid imagination.” The movie was filmed in about a dozen different countries, and boasts having no computer-generated special effects. Each location shot is absolutely stunning. We watched this in Blu-Ray, and I can’t express how beautiful the composition of this film was. I envied the characters as they got to globe-trot during the course of the story.
The fairy-tale itself reminds me of Pan’s Labryinth, without being quite as heavy, and many may find it trite and shallow, but I loved it. The young lead is a treat, and is so completely natural in front of the camera without a hint of saccharine that mars many child performances. Lee Pace gives a great performance as a man who knows what he wants, and will do what he has to do to get it. The two of them play off each other remarkably.
Movie reviews aren’t my strong point – thousands of other folks out there are much better at it than I am. I liked it, and you might too.
Continuing my theme of regional items you miss when you move:
When we lived in Chicago, Mr. Martini and I would have brunch at Orange every now and then. As the name implies, they have an orange theme underlying their menu, and even offered orange coffee.
I LOVED their orange coffee. Sometimes we would treat ourselves to a small bag of the coffee to bring home. I made sure that when we ate at Orange for the last time, that we got some of the orange coffee to bring along with us to Louisville.
As luck would have it, the last time we got the coffee was the first time we got a bag with the coffee company information on the label (maybe because every time before we got whole bean, instead of ground, who knows).
Long story short – the coffee is available online straight from the coffee company: Carrabassett Coffee in Maine. I splurged this week and bought 3 one-pound bags of their flavored coffees, and so far they are all delicious: English Toffee, Blueberry Cobbler, and (of course) the Orange coffee I love so much.
The flavored coffees are of such high quality, I’m sure that the regular coffees must be just as good (if not better). The shipping is flat rate, and can be a little pricey (super-fast, but almost as much as a pound of coffee itself) but they do offer discounts on multiple orders of one-pound bags or a huge 5-pound bag for the price of 4 pounds.
This may sound a little excessive for coffee, and I won’t be ordering it every week. But knowing that my beloved orange coffee is available outside of Chicago is a great, great thing.
Every time I move from one city to another, there’s always something I leave behind that I can’t find in the new city.
When we moved from northeast Ohio to Chicago, we lost our connection to Stadium Mustard. Stadium Mustard is the official mustard sold in Cleveland stadium. It is, without a doubt, the absolutel best mustard I have ever eaten. I’m not a huge mustard fan, but I LOVE Stadium Mustard.
We couldn’t find it in Chicago, so just made do with regular yellow and Dijon mustards, but it wasn’t the same. When we moved to Louisville, we scoped out the local grocery stores for the golden goodness, but it wasn’t here either.
Then, last weekend, we were out of town and happened to be in a grocery store. And, of course, we checked the condiments aisle. And there we found the Holy Grail of mustards – right there, on the shelf, in 12 ounce bottles.
We bought three to bring home.
I’ve eaten so much of this mustard since we got it. I eat it straight as a dip, it’s that good. I was worried we’d run out too quickly, but lo and behold – you can buy it online. We’ll never again be without Stadium Mustard. I’m a little embarrassed with how happy this makes me.
In researching this, I’ve learned that I am not alone in the Stadium Mustard love. Someone has even expressed their love in needlepoint form. Awesome.
I know that everyone from CNN to People Magazine have talked about the puppy-cam, but COME ON. PUPPIES! Who can resist them?
This almost makes me want a dog. Almost.
I haven’t been watching as much TV this season, but one show I still can’t wait to see each week is Pushing Daisies.
Plus, I’m finally able to watch it in HD, and WOW. This show was made for the hi-def signal. Even this publicity shot shows how saturated and detailed each episode can be.
Yes, it’s twee. Yes, the main characters are in love but can’t touch, we get it, but they’re still adorable. Plus, the mean old detective is a knitter. The aunts are eccentric and two of my favorite character actresses. The dead girl has my dream wardrobe. Characters burst into song at random intervals (even singing They Might Be Giants!). I love it – it’s escapism TV at it’s best, it’s completely sugary and candy-coated and I could eat it with a spoon, I love it so much.
Of course, it’s on the bubble to be canceled, so I’m enjoying it while I can. And when it’s gone, I’ll probably order the DVD just to savor the sweetness.
In keeping with the Mad Men inspired post from the other day, I had to share this t-shirt.
Talk about a killjoy.
Recently, I had to buy new blush for the first time in YEARS. I didn’t have a clue what color to get, so I threw myself on the mercy of the girl at the cosmetics counter.
She gave me the following tip about choosing a blush color:
Make a fist with your hand. Squeeze it as tight as you can for at least 10 seconds or so (counting slowly). Then, release your fist and hold your hand flat, palm up.
The color of your fingertips is your natural cheek “blush” color. If you’re looking for a very natural blush look, just use your fingertip color as a guide and choose a blush color that closely resembles the color of your fingertips.
I tried this little experiment, and purchased a blush as close to my fingertip color as I could find. The result is that it looks like I have color in my cheeks (for a change – I’m naturally vampiric) but it doesn’t look artificial.
Now, I’m fair-skinned, so I’m not sure how this routine will work with folks who have darker skin tones than I have – your mileage may vary. But this worked for me, and I’m passing it along for anyone who may want another way to choose a hermetically sealed blush from the drugstore. Go forth and be cheeky!
I admit it – I love the AMC series Mad Men. I love the art direction, I love the costumes, I love the actors, I love the writing, all of it just impresses me to no end.
If you also like Mad Men, you may like this series of illustrations on Flickr. Graphic artist Dyna Moe is updating them often, and even made a few specifically for the iPhone. They’re fun to flip through just to soak in the mid-Century goodness.
This probably won’t be enough to satisfy your Mad Men cravings until the show returns next summer, but it’s a nice reminder of just how great this show is.
(Side Note: Yes, I was planning to post every day in November, but was called out of town for a few days unexpectedly. I’m back, and it’s business as usual from here on out.)
When it comes to soaps, perfumes and lotions, people seem to gravitate toward a set of scents that they like. Some folks like woodsy herbals, some folks like clean ocean scents, and there are those that like cottony floral scents.
Me, I like fruity scents. The problem, though, is that many of the fruity scents on the market lean toward teeny-boppery scents. Think Bonne Bell Lipsmackers – great for the locker room set, but not really grown-up enough for me.
One fruity scent I’ve found that I do really like is “Midnight Pomegrantate” from Bath & Body Works Signature Collection. It’s fruity, but it has an underlying woodsy scent that really ups the sophistication level.
In fact, I just checked the Bath & Body Works website, where they have a super-detailed description of the scent:
- Fragrance Top Notes: Pomegranate, Sparkling Citrus, Dewberry, Anise, Cinnamon, Nutmeg
- Fragrance Mid Notes: Cassis, Black Berry, Iris, Jasmine, Raspberry
- Fragrance Base Notes: Musk, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Tobacco, Patchouli
I’m kind of shocked at the patchouli, since that usually is not my fave. But combined, all of these notes add up to a fruity but sophisticated fragrance. Love it.
