the scented letter

i spent a lot of time this weekend cleaning out closets and drawers with so much more to add to my seemingly endless clothing donations. i sorted sunglasses and found a new, larger home for all my beloved bracelets, since the collection has grown like it has. 

as i went through drawers and cleared out garbage and things i'd been clinging to just because, my spirits were lifted by the lovely scent of my lavender drawer sachets, which is all the more reason i know i'd love a beautifully scented sachet with my initial on it like this one. in the category of little extras, who wouldn't want one or a few? would also be a lovely hostess gift for a beach visit to come or a darling token for a bride-to-be with the initial of her new last name.

need more ideas for hostess gifts or bridal shower gifts?

tiny treasures...a lavender swipe

you're gonna thank me for this one. favorite new thing ever. EO lavender hand wipes. i buy them individually wrapped or in a package of 10 at whole foods...they smell divine and they're perfect for newsprint on hands on the morning commute. nothing worse than that.

in the mood for more tiny treasures? or more deliciously lavender smelling things?

how does your garden grow?

i have to apologize for my really subpar pictures today, but i do want to share...my garden (aka balcony) is looking lovely and i'm really enjoying sitting out there in the mornings and evenings. i don't think enjoying outdoor space will ever get old. 

i have nonstop red begonias, deep velvety purple petunias, a caddy of the most fragrant lavender and some spikes and vinca vines...all my favorites.

on the vegetable front, i'm growing bibb lettuce, chives and parsley on my front step (i forgot to take a picture of that) and a big container of dill from seed on the balcony since it needs lots of sun. i felt my eyes light up this morning when i saw that all the rain this week brought little dill plant sprouts. so exciting! and i feel especially charmed by the cement boot i have a spike in...though i think i might plant some flowers from seed...it has always been on my grandparents' front stoop, and it makes me smile to think it was my grandfather's boot. clearly, it wasn't, as it's made of cement, but i have always associated that way and when i'm sitting outside in quiet with the birds and the breeze, it makes me smile.

 

are you growing anything? 

i hope you have a weekend of birds and breezes, beauty and growth. and maybe some festive grilling and drinking.

a squeeze of lemon

one of my favorite parts of getting a manicure or pedicure is when they bust out the steamed towels...i find it exhilarating, and the hotter the better. i particularly love when the towels are faintly scented with lemon and ginger. similarly, i love to breathe deeply when towels like that are passed around at asian restaurants, and i fondly remember the chilled towels in the gym at this resort being scented that way as well. i just love multi-sensory experiences like that, don't you?

i've often considered buying a towel warmer for my own home...i've come shockingly close to doing it more than once. maybe one day...for now, though, i might just take a page from the resort gym and chill some lemon towels this summer...want to join me?

tiny treasures...heaven scent

you just can't do better than the glade winter collection candles. last year, i wrote about several really good gift candles on the (relative) cheap as candles go. and i stand by those choices for gifts. but i have to tell you...i am utterly, knocked down, dragged out impressed by glade's winter collection, and they're 2 for $5 in most grocery stores and superstores. sometimes even 2 for $4. and in many locations, there's a tear-off coupon pad for $3 off 3.

these are so perfect for lighting throughout your home this season, even after the holidays have come and gone. the longest, coldest part of winter is ahead of us without the holiday cheer to warm us, so a soft and delicious smelling glow at home is necessary. one of the things i love most is that the labels on these candles are made for peeling off...and you know how i feel about eliminating visual noise in the home.

my favorite is the apple cinnamon which smells like the holidays, full stop. yeah, i said full stop. a close second is the french vanilla, but then i really love the bayberry spice too, which smells perfectly of pine and cold air. the only one i really don't like is the very purple sugarplum fantasies, because i think it misses the authenticity of scent that my favorites really capture.

in the winter collection, they have the oil candles and refills, the plug-ins and refills, but to me, the candles are simple and straightforward. we all have enough things we always need refills for, right?

loving these...not in the way that i feel the need to put a glade app on my phone, but i do love them, and i think you will too.

image

festive spice

my friend kelly has always made pomander balls around the holidays and i love the idea. what i don't love so much is that she said they get moldy and become gross. so not in the holiday spirit.

so i was thinking...this weekend, i'm going to boil some cloves and cinnamon sticks in water, and maybe throw in some orange or vanilla extract to create a second layer of scent. maybe i'll even chop in some fresh pine needles or eucalyptus! this is so perfect for a comfy night at home or a festive holiday gathering, the scent lingering in the background as a reminder of the season. if you find a great combination, you could even tie up little bundles as gifts to give with a little instruction tag for boiling...oooh i kind of love that idea.

i remember when mitchell and i first started dating, i would do something similar in his apartment, so i associate that smell with the excitement of beginnings, an air of expectancy and a warm, cozy respite from the crisp winter wind. i love how scents connect us to our past, don't you?

image

vintage HL: scent of a season

next up on my fall already-have list is my cooler weather fragrance wardrobe, with one great new addition. over the summer, i love to use light fragrances, most specifically coconut, as you might remember. but as cooler temps prevail, i prefer something a little heavier, with musky and spicy flavors. throw in a dash of sweetness and i'm happy.

i love having different scents that i wear in different seasons, but also different scents within the same season - i used to be of the idea that a signature scent was essential to one's personal style, but i fully reject that notion now. i think it's the same as with clothes, jewelry, makeup and any other style detail - should be easy to change and adjust based on mood, event, and any other number of factors that dictate our style choices.

some of my favorite fall and winter standbys are straight patchouli oil, which i get at jean tourmo in woodstock, valentino, which i wore on my wedding day, and bulgari notte which i got on my honeymoon in the bahamas. in addition to loving the scents, i love the memories they evoke for me and the way they transport me in time for just a split second, as only true sensory experiences can.
my favorite new cool weather fragrance is neroli from l'occitane. over the summer, i wandered in there and was very pleasantly reminded of the loveliness of that store - delicate, feminine and of course, tres provencale.





i also fell in love with one of their rose scents (they have two - the one i loved was the nuit de mai) but i figured when i need a new spring fragrance, i could explore that one. but i digress....neroli is an oil used in many, many fragrances, and is often compared to bergamot, and in this perfume is also mixed with orange blossoms. the scent is deep and spicy and sweet.to be sure, i purchased a gift set which was on sale for $20 - it's a very gold, very 90's looking "compass" purse atomizer with three small vials that slide right in. not only do i seriously adore the smell, but apparently, everyone adores it on me. you know when that happens, a scent just really works on you? i have never gotten so many compliments and have never enjoyed deeply inhaling more, with my nose to my wrist, my hair, my clothes...it gets everywhere and it lasts forever. LOVE.

i'm actually thinking about, later in the season maybe, experimenting with mixing the neroli and patchouli. the patchouli is SO strong - i love it, but people smell me from a few blocks away and it gets on everything - like, as in, baby gifts i give smell like patchouli. and kelly and cory's cat smelled like patchouli for a month after sitting on the same chair as my bag. yeah.

other items on the fall already-have list:

darkness falls

all wrapped up

originally posted 9/16/09

bulgari notte photo from http://www.mega-shops.com/; neroli photo from http://www.loccitane.com/; valentino photo from http://www.fragrancescompared.co.uk/

tiny treasures...air effects

you know how i'm all about scents, and really, i feel like so are most people. as we all know, the olfactory scent is a powerful one for memory and association, and for me, it's a major mood thing. if i don't like the way something smells, especially at home, it's a real downer. you might remember my run-in with so-called odor shield garbage bags and the scent discovery that followed.

so of course, i'm always on the lookout for products that help to keep things smelling good and fresh and whenever possible, awesome, and that's why so many of the tiny treasures i do are fragrance-related.

the whole point of tiny treasures is to indulge ourselves in small ways that make our lives better on the whole. fleeting moments in a day add up to a lot, and it's often very easy to treat ourselves to something extra special in those moments with a decadent coffee improvement, a corner store bouquet of flowers or a pretty accessory. or of course something that smells wonderful.

we just have to remember to do it, and then do it. so i like to provide easy ideas to help remind you and myself. and of course, they have to be $5 or less so it never becomes a source of guilt or stress to pamper yourself.

so i'm so excited to obsess over febreze air effects with you. this is an air freshener that actually works - immediately, and long-lastingly. of course i'm partial to the lavender vanilla, as i always am, but i have to say the powder and pamper fragrance is a close second in this case.

i'm looking forward to trying the impressive array of scents they offer, most of all meadows and rain, pumpkin harvest, the special pet odor formula and the inventive sounding moroccan bazaar.

everything is just better when things smell good. i really believe that.

the true odor shield

i know we've talked about eucalyptus before, but i'm going to address it again, with good reason.

you might remember from a couple months ago, i told you about the horrible mistake i made in purchasing "odor shield" garbage bags which smell positively repellent. even though they're long gone, their scent remains and it makes me miserable every time i open the under-sink cabinets where the garbage cans are in the kitchen and the bathroom. i've tried everything - reed diffusers, odor absorbers, sprays, air freshener pods...you name it, i've tried it.

then i got the idea of placing a bunch of my beloved eucalyptus in each cabinet. within 24 hours, no sign of the odorific odor-shield bags. i'm so excited about this solution for any problem areas including where the litter box is and any other spot that gets stuffy and less than fresh. LOVE.

image from sav-on crafts

tiny treasures...plug it in

okay, so i had to do an emergency tiny treasure post because today is the very last day for $5 wallflowers at bath and body works (online and in-store). the starter sets and the refills are $5 each, marked down from $12.50.

last time i bought garbage bags, i accidentally got the "odor-shield" kind, which smell outrageously disgusting, and i literally got depressed every time i walked into the kitchen and smelled them (i have a sickly good sense of smell). eventually, i broke down and just bought a fresh box, even though i felt bad about wasting. i just can not deal with bad smelling things. can you relate? my point is this: scents are powerful, and can affect our moods in serious ways, don't you agree? and since tiny treasures is all about bringing happiness and luxury into our lives for $5 or less, nothing could be more perfect or appropriate than this.

moving on...i always love things like this in a small space like a bathroom or closet because you get the most bang for your buck...and at only $5, that's a lot of bang for not a lot of bucks. and although TT is very much about indulging yourself when you can, it's not a bad idea to stock up now on stocking stuffers or office gifts, right? in the long run, it's your treasure anyway when you don't have to run around doing last minute shopping.

my personal favorites of the scents available in wallflowers are coconut lime verbena (you might remember my obsession from last summer), lavender vanilla (another perennial obsession of mine), and warm vanilla sugar, especially for the cooler months, which are admittedly hard to think about at this hot, sticky moment.

and i'm totally swinging by to smell eucalyptus spearmint! find your local store here.

some honey living you might have missed:

catch up on tiny treasures ($5 luxuries to give yourself)
my coconut obsession from last summer
if you looooove the smell of lavender...
and if you love the smell of eucalyptus

photo from womans day

tiny treasures...lavender dawn

so today i'm going back to my roots with tiny treasures...for those that have been with me since the beginning of this feature, you might recall the very first tiny treasure, which was the mrs. meyers lavender room spray. the idea started then, and continues now, that a tiny treasure is a small indulgence we can give ourselves as we go through often mundane days, for no more than $5 a pop.

well, allow me to introduce another treasure in the lavender family...dawn botanicals jasmine lavender dish soap. and i mean please, you can't get any more mundane than dish soap. to have a little bottle of something that makes even the most unpleasurable things pleasurable? that is a tiny treasure by all definitions. (don't forget to eliminate the visual noise!)

here's how i came to know and love this one...a few days ago, i washed my hands in my office's kitchen and was very pleasantly surprised by the lovely smell. i noticed that it was dawn and made a mental note to come back when i wasn't carrying a giant potted orchid to do further research. then i promptly forgot about it. a few days later, i walked into the kitchen and noticed a distinct spa smell...who was getting facials in the kitchen, massages next to the refrigerator? nope, it was the recently sudded sink...fresh from the dish soap! and the rest is history.

for other wonderfully lavender scented things, see this post, and this one.

photo from viewpoints

back to the beach

well, as you might already know, i fall hard for fragrances, and often. while i used to love the idea of a signature scent, i have come around to loving the idea of a fragrance wardrobe - the same way one might wear different handbags or makeup depending on the occassion, the clothing or the mood, fragrance is a wonderfully versatile way of mixing things up.

but i have to tell you, i haven't felt this way about a fragrance in a long time. beach from bobbi brown might be my favorite yet. i was going to wait until memorial day weekend to share, but given the weather over the weekend, i just can't withhold.

the nice thing about beach is that it isn't coconutty or fruity like you might expect, given the name. i love me some coconut (especially with some lime and verbena thrown in) but this is a whole different thing. it smells like summer and vacation and the beach in the least intentional, overdone way. it smells like a smell you thought couldn't be found in a bottle and only in real life, a mix of sand, ocean, suntan lotion, sea air...you have to try it.

do you have a summer scent you love? have you put it on yet this year?

photo from bobbi brown

vanity fare

i am a firm believer that all us girls need someplace girly and lovely to primp, even if you're not the primping type. we need a place that looks pretty and has some special objects to look at and enjoy each time we prepare to enter the world outside our own four walls.

in our last home, i had an antique wood vanity and stool in my bedroom to serve this function, but now that's a desk in our guest room (what will be my little office eventually) since our current bedroom is smaller. so i had to get creative. i decided to use what was once our key table - a colofully tiled number - and cover it with beveled mirror tiles left over from our dining room (see here).

i also hung a few of them as mirrors, along with a couple of my favorite framed pieces that once hung in a little bedroom reading nook. the final touch was a trio of cube shelves hung vertically to house my perfumes. i love looking at their bottles but lacked an abundance of space on the table itself, so this was a good solution.

some of my favorite items on the vanity itself are this glass box from my grandmother's house, particularly because my sister has one too and it feels like a really nice family connection.

and these glass jars from anthropologie that were a birthday gift match the vintage box perfectly, and they're just so delicate and feminine.

i try to have fresh flowers there whenever i can, and i love the framed picture of me at my wedding - i like how i'm listening closely to the rabbi and how i look humbled by the moment - i like being reminded of that feeling each morning as i get ready.

do you have a special place where you get ready each day? don't you think it's important?

tiny treasures...breathe deeply

as you know, a tiny treasure is a little luxury (under $5) that can have a profoundly positive impact on your home, your life or your day. so often, scents are an example of that for me, and i know for many of you. i guess it's not surprising since it's often said that the olfactory sense is the strongest in regard to memory and feelings. so when i rediscovered dried eucalyptus a few weeks ago, i knew i had to make it a tiny treasure.

now, i personally have very positive memories of the smell - i always had it in my room when i was younger, and the fragrance wafted through the home of a childhood friend i had where i was always happy and creative and laughing. but even without my memories, the smell of eucalyptus is wonderfully relaxing and spa-like. the minty, herbal qualities makes you inhale extra deeply to breathe it all in, and the scent is far-reaching. we have two bunches right now on opposite sides of our living room, and while i'm not knocked over by the scent, i definitely catch waves of it now and then and it is really lovely when i do. i can actually feel my muscles loosen and a smile emerge.

there are also all kinds of environmental reasons to be a purchaser of eucalyptus and its byproducts, which you can read about here if you find yourself interested.

the really nice thing about dried eucalyptus is that it's very easy to find, and very inexpensive. many grocery stores carry it, as well as many of the corner delis here in nyc that have flowers. if neither of those options work, michael's and other craft stores always have it, in a few different colors too. you can usually just follow your nose when you enter the store to find the right aisle. and i don't think i have ever seen a bunch for over $4.

i think pier 1 often carries it too, and that's another one of my memory associations for eucalyptus - the days of my papasan chair. why i wanted to sit in a padded bowl while smelling my eucalyptus...not sure about that.

i think of it like this - why have your home smell neither here nor there when it can smell amazing, feel me?

photos from save-on-crafts

tiny treasures...lucky strike

well, i'm sure i don't have to tell you how much i love candles and what serenity and loveliness they can bring to any room. that conversation is just old hat, don't you think? (for a review, check out this candle post, and this one).

but you know what i think just seals the deal? these large matchboxes that i've been mildly obsessed with since last winter. i first received one from my mom as a yankee swap gift with a $5 limit, and she got them at pier 1. but they're totally the kind of item that you have to always be on the lookout for because pier 1 no longer has them, and neither does anthro.

i've been told kate's paperie in new york has them from time to time, and a very special store in port washington i plan on introducing you to soon has a very healthy collection. but they're the type of item that rotates in and our of inventory, so you have to just always be mildly looking for them.

and what's nice about that is that when you know what you're looking for, you find yourself well positioned to seize the opportunity when presented... a few weeks ago i found myself at the christmas tree shop and found a whole display of these, all with birds, butterflies and flowers, for $1 each. in tiny treasure speak, that means 5 of them! the truth is, you could never have too many of these because you can have one with each candle at home and they're perfect as gifts too - alone as a little token, or with a candle as the little detail that makes the gift.

one thing i've found is that in a lot of grocery stores, you can find boxes of four inch matches (albeit more generically packaged) which can come in handy when you need a refill, since it's such a shame to throw out the pretty box.

of course if all else fails, you could always use the boxes this way - just remove the flammable part, obvi.

and if you really fall in love with this idea and want to go the personalized route, check out for your party, where you can order custom matchboxes for your home, for gifts, for parties, etc.

despite the difficulty in finding them, i have no choice but to designate these a tiny treasure because to me, they totally enhance my enjoyment of all the candles i already love. it feels special to strike up a nice, long match on a pretty matchbox...it feels literary, in a way, more dramatic than using a bic or a little nothing matchbook. it makes the very lighting of the candle more of a ritual and an experience, which is really what tiny treasures is about.

so tuck away this week's $5 and save it for when you find this treasure in your travels. besides, it can be kind of fun to always be on the lookout for a little treasure, don't you agree?

tiny treasures...evening dew

well, you know how i feel about lavender, so it's been no surprise to me that i am loving the johnson's lavender baby oil i bought a few weeks ago. it has become, by far, the most soothing, comfy cozy part of my post-shower routine, and i seriously think you ought to try it for yourself. it has all the elements of a tiny treasure - it's a luxury for under $5 and wins when it comes to pleasure to price ratio. considering that a bottle will last you a month or two, at least, it's a very good deal and manages to bring a lot of pleasure to daily life - well worth it.

following the instructions on the bottle, i pat it on wet skin pretty much right out of the shower (everywhere but my face) and after a couple minutes just sort of blot it with a towel so it's not oily slick, making a mess of everything. the rest just soaks in overnight, and i have to say, i find myself looking forward to an evening shower and then cuddling up in pajamas with some good tv. the scent of the oil - an emollient combination of good old lavender and good old baby oil - strikes me as reminscent of ... something... don't really know what. but something comfortable and soothing and wonderful.

to me, the feeling of comfort in the evening is so important. we all spend our days running and doing and working and go-go-going, and to feel serene and tucked in at home in the evening is a tiny treasure in itself. to do it with meltingly soft skin that smells clean and warm and sweet...well that's a huge treasure if you ask me.

a nice beginning

so i realized yesterday that i haven't filled you in on our new years weekend trip to washington! of course, everyone is over new years by now, but there were a few finds and tips i wanted to share. we were visiting barack and michelle...okay, just kidding, we were visiting kelly and cory. even better!

it was the first time we had seen their new place, so that was exciting. the apartment is beautiful and has kelly's touches all around, including beautiful displays of their china, crystal and silver, some of which they received as wedding gifts and others which she's collected over the years at tag sales and from family.

kelly's abundant and everyday use of silver trays under candles, flowers, champagne flutes and more lent a simple but elegant touch to everything, and inspired me to move deeper into my dabbling in a silver collection. so versatile and lovely looking, and a great mix with the crystal and china i already collect. what's nice is that along with the proper silver collection mainly from her grandmother and tag sales, kelly also uses new silver-tone pieces like the astor collection from crate and barrel and some of pottery barn's barona collection.

i also love love love the color scheme in their bathroom which is blues, greens and dark wood. so beautiful and oasis-like...sort of tropical feeling, but not in a gimmicky or out of place way. isn't their shower curtain, shown below, so pretty? helping the look along was kelly's wonderful collection of blue and green glass, and the oceans room spray from pier 1.

and silver wasn't all that was in abundance...the new year's eve spread kelly put out was the best kind - lots of small bites, with varied, delicious taste profiles, and definitely the type of spread that would be welcome at any casual, festive gathering. she did her famous dates, which i've sung the praises of before, and several different cheeses, shrimp cocktail, a charcuterie platter which i thought she very artfully laid out, and assorted dips.

the cocktail sauce with the shrimp was nicely hot - surprisingly, it was the regular jarred kind from trader joe's, but enhanced by lots of fresh-squeezed lemon juice right before serving.

we drank mostly champagne, and some prosecco and cava for good measure. i'd never tried cava before, which is spanish sparkling wine (as champagne is french and prosecco is italian). it was great - nice and dry, which is how i prefer my champagne. also, we tried one of kelly's staples which was on the sweeter side but very delicious also. it's an italian sparkling red wine, so a little weightier than a sparkling white, and said to have flavors of rose petals and raspberries. it's definitely worth trying if it sounds appealing to you. it's called rosa regale, and is available here.

as a fun accessory to our bubbly, we tried out the spanish tradition i wrote about on new year's eve, where you place skewers with twelve grapes in each glass for the revelers to eat at midnight, each grape predicting a sweet (or sour) month of the coming year. we froze the skewers of grapes for about 2 hours, which made them a nice, refreshing treat at midnight.

my personal directive was to keep it to yourself if you ate a sour one...we all need to believe that the year to come will be a sweet one, right?

also on our trip, i had total fragrance envy the whole time. kelly has started wearing michael kors perfume that smells postively dreamy and is now totally on my wish list. i found myself following the scent down each aisle everywhere we shopped, and it was positively delightful.

also on the fragrance front, i was reminded at their apartment of the amazing smell of most fig products, including the fresh fig spray from pier 1, which is what they use. the smell quickly became an obsession, so for a little fix, i bought essence of beauty's creamy fig handcream from cvs and am loving it (and so are the people around me when i put it on). until last week, i'd been regretting not getting the body mist and the body butter too, available here, so you can imagine how thrilled i was when i found some leftover holiday-packaged fig products at bath and body works for just over $1. SCORE.

also, we hit world market, which is a fabulous store if you have the opportunity to go to one. unfortunately, we don't have any nearby which is a real shame - they seem to start in the washington area and go south and west from there, but i did discover they have a shoppable website, which i didn't know. i love them because they have very reasonably priced items in all the fun categories - home decor, bath and body, accessories, more home decor, and then they have an extensive international food section, and a wine section. love that place and kelly and i always plan a trip there when i'm visting.

this time, i fell madly in love with the pattern above which they had in a tablecloth (only rectangular and i have a round table) and curtains (couldn't figure out where they'd go) called "tree of life." as i'm sharing this with you, i see they have them for sale online, which i'm seeing as a second chance at love...and i'm going to get to thinking about how i could use it as fabric...throw pillows? apron? placemats? i don't know...i think i need to do something with it though. isn't it gorg? oooh...maybe curtain tie-backs for our bedroom which i'm doing in many layered patterns...YES.

my main purchase there was six really pretty glasses with a trellis-like print which i really love and were a great bargain, on heavy sale for just over $2 a glass.

take a look through their website, i think you'll see some stuff you like...some really interesting items at very fair prices.

kelly and i topped off our galavanting with a drive through a few of washington and chevy chases's prettiest neighborhoods, and a stroll through the women's coop market in bethesda where we got some fresh pastries, some produce and where i scored these antique mirrors for $1. for the set. yeah. we also made a stop at the gap where much of the inventory was on heavy sale, including my choice of some comfy lightweight scarves (this and this), for $7 a piece.

all in all, my kind of long weekend - food and drink with friends, lots of shopping and talking, and afternoon naps each day. throw in some antique mirrors and small bouquets of orange roses in each room - perfection.

shower curtain and tablecloth photos from www.worldmarket.com, handcream photo from www.cvs.com