Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.
Today is Friday, February 26 — almost the end of the month! We are two months into 2021 — how is this year going for you so far? On some of the other blogs I follow, readers are sharing their experiences of getting vaccinated against COVID-19, and their relief at having done so. I’m very happy for them, and I look forward to achieving that milestone myself as soon as possible. It seems so strange to think that it has been just about a year since the world began to shut down. I remember helping to distribute information to university students last February, about a new virus that had recently appeared, and the recommended (at that time) precautions such as frequent handwashing. At the very start of March 2020, we kept to our plan of taking our son to Jamaica as part of an organized trip by many seniors’ families; it was his “big” graduation gift. I took sanitizing wipes with us and wiped down our seats on the plane, to my son’s chagrin, then the high-touch surfaces in our hotel room although at that time, Jamaica had not yet had any cases of the novel coronavirus.
We had a wonderful time, we came home, and by the end of March, my husband and I were both working from home, school went remote, spring sports were canceled, and all the traditional events of our son’s senior spring in high school and our daughter’s senior spring at college were canceled. Her graduation was entirely remote; his was postponed until the summer, when it was held outside with limited, distanced, and masked attendance. We were so glad that at least we took that last trip, since we had to cancel all our other travel plans, which had included a family summer trip to London, Paris, and Normandy to celebrate the two graduations, two big birthdays in 2020, and a major wedding anniversary. Our oldest daughter moved home after having lost the two jobs she was working, one in theater and the other in trade show planning. All of that and more, just within the last 12 months.
Yet I’m very thankful that no one close to me has suffered the worst of COVID-19, though sadly some friends lost elderly parents, and we haven’t been able to visit my father-in-law in a year. He was safely vaccinated in late December, so we hope to be able to see him as soon as we get vaccinated ourselves. Miraculously, the continuing care community where he lives had not one case of COVID-19 among residents or staff in all of 2020 (and to date, as far as we know). One daughter, who teaches, had COVID herself in the fall but she had a fairly mild case and seems to have recovered fully. I was thankful to have her living at home where we could take care of her. We haven’t yet revived any travel plans further afield than anywhere we can drive to, but Paris is still calling! Think of all the $$ I will have saved to spend on perfume by the time we get there …
This has turned into more of a “What Went Well” post. So in that vein, what went well for you this week, or month, or year so far? Or, to bring it back to fragrance, if you were planning a trip to Paris, what fragrance sites would you visit and what fragrances would be on your Paris shopping list?
Serenity Now Scents and Sensibilities 
We were lucky to travel to Burgundy in late summer and that we had nice weather last year. Covid made me take up cycling again, so I got a bit fitter. And although I got covid in January, I had no complications, so I think I am still lucky. SOTD is Meet me on the Corner
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I love Meet Me On The Corner! I’m sad that Sarah is having so much difficulty with the new Brexit challenges. I’m glad you seem to be feeling better.
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Thankfully, those in my extended family who got COVID also recovered. I would love to visit all the perfume museums and flagship stores in Paris. And see Versailles again, especially after binge-watching all 3 seasons on Netflix recently.
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Me too! My husband and I went to Paris and Provence/Riviera for our honeymoon 30+ years ago, including a day trip to Versailles. We’ve been back to the Riviera since then but not to Paris, and I’m dying to go back.
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What went well, actually many things. My folks won the elections so that was a plus for me. I got both my Covid vaccines- woo hoo! The second Moderna shot knocked me for a loop, couldn’t get out of bed for a day and a half I felt so badly, but that just means I was making the antibodies, so it’s all good. I got to see my son and daughter-in-law 3 times, which is fantastic for a quarantine year.
Also, only 3 family members got Covid 19. Two are doing well now and the third is still having long haul symptoms, but hopefully she will eventually get over that. In addition, I tried lots of recipes, learned how to make mung bean pancakes (lots of work but good) and other excellent dishes and I read a lot of books. I also listened to wonderful virtual concerts from local symphony and the amazing Philadelphia Orchestra. The Philly orchestra has been playing pieces by Florence Price and they are really beautiful. She was such a talented composer, and her music had hardly been played at all since the 1930’s. Finally, I love the Tiny Desk concerts on NPR, a great way to listen to all sorts of different music. An album of Cuban music from the 1970’s and 80’s is on my wish list now.
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I’m one of those strange people who doesn’t want to go to Paris. I don’t know exactly why: those 3 days that we spent there about 10 years ago were nice and filled with meeting people and perfumes, and eventually we’ll go there again. But my heart is left in London: that’s where I really want to go. And to Hawaii. And probably New York.
Nobody I know personally had diagnosed COVID yet. I’m not sure when our turn to be vaccinated comes, we’ll see. Meanwhile, I plan to mostly work from home.
Last year for our anniversary we managed to get to Sonoma for 3 days – right in between 2 lockdowns. And we had a couple of day trips around here. Other than that, mostly we worked – probably even more than in a regular year. I still plan to try to be more active. But it’s easier to work an extra hour than to exercise, which isn’t good, and I need to make an effort.
Perfume-wise I ran into a strange “problem”: since we have limited number of “special occasions,” I’m having hard time deciding which of my special perfumes to wear for those that we have 🙂 I’ve never had that feeling before that I need to choose wisely which of my favorites to wear because who knows when will be the next time.
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Found it!
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I do love London. It has been 30+ years since we were last in Paris, though, and we’re overdue for a return trip. Also, only one of our kids has been there, and I’d love to introduce the other two to it. I’ve never been to Sonoma or that part of California, and it’s on my wishlist too! I sympathize with your special occasion dilemma. We may all have to start declaring that more days are special. I know one person who has started doing occasional special date nights at home: she and her partner get dressed up, open a good bottle of wine, eat food from a favorite restaurant at a nicely set table. That would warrant special perfume in my world!
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OK… I suspect WordPress sent a couple of my attempts to comment to Spam 🙂
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I’ll go look!
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I can imagine that spring trip will keep a lot of good memories alive for your son’s senior year. We had hoped to take a river cruise to the Normandy area, but not so much. Shots have been received and some things in our area are loosening up, but after a year of isolation the urge to jump back into large crowds just doesn’t appeal to us yet. 2020 was a learning experience and some lessons were positive and some not so much. Life – it’s a journey for sure. 🙂
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So true! I feel very lucky that my husband and I took some dream trips in 2019, related to his work travel (his work got us there, then we extended with some vacation time). Usually we get to do one of those annually, 2019 brought three such trips. So that will have to do us through 2020 and 2021! But I’ll be brushing off my passport for 2022 …
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