• EauMG’s Smell Diary – January 2013

    Date: 2013.02.01 | Category: fragrance | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,

    Jan. 1st – International District – Rare, clear blue skies highlighting the snowy mountain skyline. Phaedon Rue de Lilas on my wrists. Walked to go get green tea cream puffs, so frigid and cold that it hurts the sinuses. Smells of fish market, roasted garlic and bulgogi.

    Frink the Frug

    Jan. 2nd – Downtown – Moxi expressed herself on the rug again. It’s like Secretions Magnifiques without any of the good stuff. For some reason there was a pile of sawdust in the elevator that smells like fir.

    Jan. 3rd – Pioneer Square – Streets smell of kombucha or is that beer piss and garbage?

    Jan. 4th – Capitol Hill – A strange, unexplained apparition of orris root followed me around for 30 minutes as I drink a pretty average Americano. A man ran through the streets shouting “Happy New Year!” until the police were called.

    Jan. 5th – A Land of Loose Ends – Earthy, metallic, muddy. Cabins emitting the aroma of kerosene throughout the hills. Noticed little green buds on fruit trees, a little sign that life moves on, a reminder that I needed today more than ever.

    Jan. 6th – Downtown – Sadly I did not leave home today and tried to catch up on work. I tried a few violet perfumes but had a craving for heliotrope.

    Jan. 7th – Belltown- Doughnuts and coffee. Stressing over a deadline and craving carbs and sugar.

    Jan. 8th - Downtown – I cut a yellow onion at noon. The smell never left my hands or the house. The frugs smell like a shrimp boat. Get me out of this condo.

    Jan. 9th – Downtown – I baked cornbread for the first time in probably a year. It’s such a comforting aroma for an ex-Southerner. I would totally buy it in a home fragrance.

    Jan 10th – Capitol Hill – “Oh my God! Do you smell that?” I hear as I walk out of a hip Syrian restaurant filled with ideas. “It’s not you.” And it wasn’t. I’m pretty sure it was “you” as it looked like you stepped in dog feces. Or at least I can only suspect it’s dog feces due to the proximity it is to the tree in the planting strip.

    Jan 11th – Downtown – So cold it hurts the sinuses, a strange aroma of pipe tobacco and plastic wrap. A man poetically exclaims “Go Atlanta” at about every 5 steps. I’m sure it was some sport’s thing but his delivery was so iambic.

    Jan 12th – Ballard – A perfume event, so many aromas. I love that smell of all of the perfumes mixing on my hands from removing their caps.

    Jan 13th – Queen Anne – So cold I believe that no aroma could cut through the thick air because the day was incredibly neutral in the smell department.

    Jan 14th – Downtown – My pillows smell like patchouli. And then patchouli spent the rest of the day stalking me at every corner.

    LUSH Flying Fox

    Jan 15th – Downtown – I’m obsessed with LUSH Flying Fox. The house is filled with an animalic jasmine. It even permeates the halls. The neighbors can go “suck it” as they breathe in a honeyed jasmine.

    Jan. 16th – Downtown – Woke up filling sick. The smell of vitamin C tablets. Saw a person on a bike get hit by a van and thrown over 20 feet. I really don’t want to associate any scents with this day.

    Jan. 17th – Belltown - A thick fog hangs low in the city streets trapping the overpowering aroma of beef jerky.

    Jan. 18th – Downtown – They’re touching up the wood paneling in the elevators and lobby. The varnish and stain smell sweet, chemical and I feel bad for liking it. I am not describing a Montale perfume.

    Jan. 19th – International District-ish – Limes and lemons and lemons and limes. Juicing for a cocktail party.

    Jan. 20th – Greenwood – Frankincense, coffee ceremonies and injera. It was a really great day.

    Jan. 21st – Downtown – Chakapuli. It smells like spring in here: herbs, slow-roasted meat, vegetables. Never underestimate the power of comfort food.

    Jan. 22nd – Downtown – For some reason my dogs smell like skunky weed. What have they been doing when I’m not home?

    Jan. 23rd – Downtown – I realize what the skunky weed smell is and I wrongfully blamed my children. It’s an overripe pomelo. Bizarre. No rehab for the frugs.

    Jan. 24th – Downtown – Paperback books.

    Jan. 25th - Pike Place – Too much clam chowder will leave one feeling afflicted despite its savory, creamy aroma. Savory, creamy aromas can’t make up for everything.

    Jan. 26th - Across the Continental US - Italians seated around me on the plane smell of mossy things. So many variations of mossy, mossy perfumes.

    Jan. 27th – Upper West Side – All I really need to tell you is “sniff-a-thon”, so many perfumes, so little time. I may come across as skeptical at times but the world really does have some beautiful perfumes.

    Elements

    Jan. 28th - Midtown – Perfumes. Smell them. Perfumes. Analyze them.

    Jan. 29th – Chelsea – French herbs, coffee with cream, good conversation, Pierre Guillame, good day. Except I smelled the only skunk in all of NYC. It sprayed outside my hotel.

    Jan. 30th – Chinatown – Beef jerky and sweet breads hang in the humid air. Subways smell of stagnant water. The world feels so Mad Max at times.

    drag

    Jan. 31st – Greenwich Village – A feeling of spring in the air that awakes some smells from hibernation. On the long flight home a man was wearing too much patchouli. I’m fine with that. Happy to be home.