I am a lover of beauty, a happily married introvert, an empath and INTJ. I have an inquiring mind and thousands of books. Many things make me happy. I’d like to share some of them, and hear what makes other people happy. Thanks for stopping by!

Mindfulness is something I am trying to cultivate in my life. There are many competing claims on my time and attention: family, work, etc. As my children are now teens/young adults, I am working to carve out some time for peaceful reflection and creativity in my life, in spite of a demanding, sometimes pressured job. Blogging is one way for me to do that. I sometimes use this blog also to cultivate positive thoughts through practices like “What Went Well Wednesdays”, when I write down three things that went well that week. Please join me, in the comments! I also blog occasionally about gardens, gardening, garden books, art in gardens and garden photography at Old Herbaceous.

If you wish to contact me about this blog or fragrance-related topics, the email I use for those purposes is (all one word) the wise kangaroo at A O L dawt com. I don’t check it daily, so please be patient! I welcome samples; I do not do sponsored reviews, and I review fragrances I like. I have bought 99.99% of the fragrances I own and my reviews are independent. While I don’t mind saying candidly what I think about major brands’ fragrances, my rule with small independent or niche houses is that if I don’t have anything nice to say, I don’t say anything at all. But no one should assume that the absence of a review is a condemnation, because it may be that I just haven’t gotten to it yet.

Photo: davidaustinrosesusa.com