Category Archives: Blogging

In Pursuit of the Perfect…Soap


Sandalwood is my favorite fragrance. I rarely use perfumes. To me, most of them smell too sweet, too floral, or down-right icky. Instead, for the past half dozen years or so, I buy a vial of sandalwood oil at my local Annual Renaissance Festival and use that in lieu of perfume. One 1/2 oz vial usually lasts me an entire year.

A few years ago I discovered another marvelous sandalwood item: bar soap. The all natural, no animal by-products, cold-processed, etc. type of bar soap. I was in aromatic heaven!

Lately, though, the places I previously could find sandalwood bar soap in abundance seem to have stopped carrying it. Instead I’m seeing sandalwood mixed with patchouli (which I’m not particularly fond of, but bought anyway because of the SANDALWOOD ingredient), or fragrances like tomato or mint. I want to smell mysterious, not edible.

So while in Europe the end of September, I was on the look-out for soap stores or shops that sell soaps, in hopes that EUROPEAN stores would stock the elusive sandalwood bar soap. Alas, all my efforts came to fruition in the form of one small bar of sandalwood/ylang ylang soap. (Sigh.) Yes, I bought it. Still haven’t decided whether or not I’ll actually use it…

Upon returning hoPlantlife sandalwood soapme, determined NOT to mourn sandalwood bar soap, I tracked down the company (Plantlife) that makes the soap I like the best. It’s in stock!! YES!! I will be ordering several bars come payday.

I’ve decided that while on future vacations, whether in the USA or overseas, I’ll continue to be on the lookout for sandalwood bar soap. Because while it’s good to know I can order it online, I still prefer the joy of discovering said bar of sandalwood soap on the shelf in a store, picking it up and deeply inhaling the wonderful musky aroma. 🙂

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The Man of Your Dreams?


Saw this today in my email:

Harlequin.com - Man of Your Dreams

and the rest of the message header:

Harlequin.com - Man of Your Dreams, click here

So apparently Harlequin is now selling MEN…and at a DISCOUNT!! … but not just any men….

the MAN OF YOUR DREAMS!!

 

*Sigh* If only it were that easy….

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Filed under Blogging, Fantasy, Life, Musings, Random, Stuff

Paper Souls by Allie Burke


Paper Soulsthere is no memory without emptiness

A heart-wrenching, beautifully woven tale of survival, Allie Burke’s Paper Souls is different from most books I’ve read – not only in subject matter, but also in structure.

The structure puts me in mind of Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me Series. Stark and lyrical. I love this style of prose. It’s unpredictable and often irreverent, thumbing its proverbial nose at the reader’s expectations of what comes next.

The subject matter – Schizophrenia and how one woman refuses to be defined by it – is raw, jagged, and thought-provoking.

Allie by turns caresses your senses with the sensual, loveable side of Emily Colt, then stabs you with Emily’s sharp, biting wit and – sometimes violent – confrontations with those who have wronged her.

Emily is a multi-layered protagonist who is determined to live life on her own terms. Love her, hate her, Emily Colt is a character you’ll not soon forget, and Allie Burke is an author worth reading.

Allie is also the bestselling author of The Enchanters Series: Violet Midnight, Emerald Destiny, and Amber Passion. To find out more about Allie Burke, visit her website: http://wordsbyallieburke.com/

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