Nautical Nerd: Redbubble Hagrid's Hut Phone Case

Redbubble is much like Society6 in that people submit artwork and it can be placed on anything from shirts to phone cases, pillows to mugs. I usually buy Adam's Top Gear shirts from Redbubble each year but I did see that they were having a phone case sale and I was desperately in need of a new one. 

I have a thing for Hagrid's hut. I imagine sipping a cup of too strong Earl Grey perched on a too tall knotty pine chair backed with a thread bare quilt, sitting at Hagrid's table while he enthralls me with tales of his wild magical beast encounters. There is a smoking peat fire in the hearth and rustic candles and lanterns flickering about the room like oversized fire flies. Pumpkins lie like fat boulders around his garden. I want to be there. I want to visit my birthday twin. 

This rainy day portrait of Hagrid's hut fit the bill. This tough version of the case is $30 and includes a rubberized inner core. It does not have a screen protector which concerns me and my clumsy ways... but I will give it a go. It is a simple case with no flaps for the charging port, volume or ear bud port like my last tough case from Society6. I hope they add a slightly "tougher" version at Redbubble. I have had this case for about two weeks now and no scuffing or nicks so far. 

What kind of phone cases do you go for?

Poesie Perfume: Thornfield Collection

Poesie Perfume starting coming to my attention more and more the past few months and a teaser about a Thornfield Collection that felt moody and autumnal, not to mention devilishly bookish, had me setting my phone alarm for the release date. That is when I know I am about to dive in. When the phone alarm gets set. With a five minute alert. The day came, the release commenced and a few fragrant offerings migrated to my dwelling.

 Shipping is free for domestic orders. The items arrived quickly and came wrapped in this lovely tissue paper and ribboned bundle. Full sized perfumes come in a frosted bottle with a roll-on applicator for $16 for 5ml, smaller 2 ml version are available in a tiny wee green bottle for $6.50. Orders come with free samples as well. 

Bewitched- Notes: Yellow apple, clove, apricot, black pepper, vetiver, anise and cauldron smoke.

Wet on the skin, a sharp edge of black pepper slices out to hook the senses yet the juicy crunch of a small wild apple echoes just behind. This witch sits at her small rough wooden kitchen table, dressed in a simple worn calico shift, one hand propping her chin the other indifferently cradling a half eaten apple as she contemplates the woodland scene outside her window and the woodland landscape within her heart. The tinctures and elixirs manifesting in tiny copper and iron pots on her stove begin to warm and bubble over the gas flames. The peppery spices settle and the gooey sweetness of apricots lift to fragrant her cozy kitchen. She opens the window and sets the remains of the apple on the windowsill for her forest friends to enjoy at their leisure while she turns her attention to the string of hanging herbs that dry along the wall. She plucks a thin bundle of sweetgrass, vetiver and alfalfa to smudge about her home, hearth and heart. Satisfied, she turns to the pots and simmering liquids that chatter and sputter, begging for her ministrations.

This one ends on a skin note that still whispers about the apple flesh. A lovely scent to experience. The sillage is low and close while the longevity is about 3-4 hours on my skin.

Thornfield- Notes: Burned wood and lingering smoke, new Vanille accord (sweet and non-foody), the barest hint of pumpkin pie spices.

Woodsmoke opens up this scent, heralding the arrival of fall and the ritual of burning piles of leaves and fallen twigs and branches, victims of those blustery days that hint at the winter woes to come. A wisp of wooden vanilla threads it way like a specter through the woodsmoke to sweeten and warm the air during the brisk stroll about the countryside. The pumpkin spices never tingle the nose or emerge as the traditional fiery spices but rather they deepen the scent and shade it with ligneous shadows. 

The sillage is moderate and the longevity about 4-6 hours.

Tiny Phantom- Notes: Innocent pink roses, marshmallow buttercream, pale white musk and antique mahogany. 

Ah! The roses... the delicate cabbage roses that tumble and cascade over and down stone garden walls, whose small and open faces blush with exquisite pink hues. These petals are plucked from the bush and carried home to be candied and drizzled with cream. Tiny Phantom dries down into soft pillows of creamy rose petals and airy clouds of musk. A pretty rose fragrance.

Free samples:

PNW (Pumpkin Nutmeg Woods)- Notes: Fresh pumpkin, spicy nutmeg, clean woods, creamy coconut candy and juicy red grapefruit.

Wet on the skin the grapefruit rises up tart and electric then drifts down in a pool of orange flavored macaroons. A unique beginning for a pumpkin spice woods scent. After some time the tartness vanishes and the oranges become the glow of the pumpkins in the sunset light. The nutmeg and woods blend into a seamless note and the creamy coconut stays for the duration. I need to wear this a bit more and outdoors to get a better feel for it.

A Thousand Warriors- Notes: Juicy ume plum, bitter yuzu, divine hinoki wood and fluffy vanilla.

The opening pulls a little candied violets on my skin, I think it is the transparent plum skin and the cypress that combine to make that accord. It is a delicate beauty that I enjoyed wearing. 

The was a lovely first introduction to Poesie Perfume and I will be back for more in the future. In fact, technically I have already revisited them as they did a collaboration with Indie Beautique recently and created some mermaid inspired bath salts with mini bath bombs tucked within that I simply had to try out. Those have since arrived and I plan on taking photos and getting those goodies in my bath tub here pretty quick like. 

My sister picked up a Thornfield sampler and she is cooing over some of her scents so I am excited to pop over to her place and experience those soon. Have you tried Poesie Perfume? How do you feel about bookish collections? Which of these sound like a scent you might enjoy?

Melting Basket 108 and Maggie Stiefvater Geek Out

Another quick and dirty melting basket photo. But I make up for it with the pretty book set up later on, I promise. 

Wax tarts I melted last basket that I loved enough to want to buy again: Glitterati Monkey Bread, VCS Autumn in Salem, Bohemienne Life Third Eye and Saturnus (SO GOOD), CFTKR Vanilla Pumpkin Marshmallow (picked up another bag this past weekend) and Merlin's Forest.

Lasting Scent Candles- Spooky Apparitions

Dessa's Homespun Scents- Cinnamon Garland

Dessa's Homespun Scents- Apples & Cinnamon

CFTKR- Baked Apple

CFTKR- Pumpkin Peppercorn

Bohemienne Life- Pumpkin Forest

The Bathing Garden- Pumpkin Pie Spice

Sniff My Tarts- Dragon's Blood and Apple Cinnamon

Better Homes & Gardens- Fall Into Autumn <3 gift

If you would like any of these scents reviewed in depth, please let me know which ones in the comments. 

Helllooooooooo, Nurse! The beauty of Maggie Stiefvater's newest release, All the Crooked Saints arrived in all its polished and shining glory this past weekend. I pre-ordered this book from Fountain Book Store in Virginia where Maggie will autograph and doodle books for their customers who order from them. I ordered this back in April and paid $19.99 plus a few bucks for shipping.

You may recall my sister and close friend drove up to Jacksonville to listen to Maggie give a brief lecture and do a meet and greet over the summer. It was a great day. 

She not only writes books, but also is an artist and musician. She sketched out the owl in the front cover and then painted this intricate owl portrait which was made into a bookplate and signed by her. 

She also signed the inside title page. I just finished up a book a friend of hers wrote, Blood Magic, but now I am ready to dive into this tome. Other Maggie Stiefvater books I recommend: The Raven Cycle starting with The Raven Boys, The Scorpio Races, The Wolves of Mercy Falls series starting with Shiver and hopefully this one too. She has a faerie series as well but I have not started it. 

What are you currently reading? Have you visited any pumpkin patches or engaged in any fall time fun? I am so ready to melt that Apples & Cinnamon and crack open this book. THOSE OWLS!!!!

NovelTeas: Pride & Peppermint

My friend Jay at The Candle Enthusiast tagged me in an IG giveaway from Novel Teas a short while ago, Lady Luck smiled down on me and I won. <3 They shipped me a paperback tea tin refill in Pride & Peppermint ($14), an additional refill pack (not sure on the value but it is appreciated!), a Mr. Darcy bookmark with artwork by Lily Seika Jones, rivuletpaper on IG ($3) and a vintage bookplate sticker. 

Pride & Peppermint is a blend of rooibos, chamomile and peppermint, a caffeine free blend that is perfect for any time of day. I love the blending of flavors. It has more depth and dimension than a plain peppermint blend. I added a touch of honey and it made a perfect cup of hot tea.

I look forward to becoming a Novel Tea customer and wish to add every tin they create to my home, especially Matcha Do About Nothing and The Picture of Early Grey. <3

I also picked up some teas from Wick & Fable. Do you have any indie handcrafted tea vendors that you enjoy? Please share! Especially if they are geeky. 

Super Tarts: March 8th Order

Super Tarts haul in the house!!! I had to look back on my blog to see the last time I bought from Super Tarts and it was almost 2 years ago, the Leon Day Sampler. So what made me pop over and place a massive order from Super Tarts out of the blue? My beautiful blogger friend over at The Melt Down blog, she was the catalyst. All her amazing clams in scents that called to me. Normally, the sometimes over the top blending turns me away but there were so many scents in stock on March 8th that I found quite a few I wanted. There was a very short (one hour I think) coupon code for use on Women's Day but I was too late for that. No matter, I found plenty to bring home. Each clamshell was $4.00 and shipped out on the 15th, about one week after ordering. Shipping for 12 tarts was $12.53. The scent descriptions are included on the label which is fantastic.

I made my choices by going through the scent categories, mostly mint, manly and earthy tags. I ended up with three tarts from the Lord of the Melts. Gosh darn I love my geeky fandoms. 

Treebeard (I love Treebeard and the Ents)- Notes: Cream soda, cantaloupe and a touch of pine. 

I am going to try hard to not imagine what I feel like characters that are near and dear to my heart would actually smell like, otherwise I would have a hard time with this. On its own merits, this turned out to be a really cool scent. (And hey, Treebeard is a cool guy) The cream soda doesn't appear to be very fizzy but does have that mellow Butterbeer sweetness mixed in with fresh melon and tempered with soft woods. Overall I am delighted at how well blended it is, neither the melon nor the pine or soda stand out. Looking forward to melting this. 

I love the detail that went into these clamshells. The crumbles inside the layers is a nice touch.

Sam's Shire- Notes: Fresh cut grass, watermelon, rock candy. 

Old Samwise Gamgee, a true friend and green thumb in his own right. If anyone should smell like a summer garden it is Sam. The plump and sweetly aquatic watermelons sidle along with the meadow grass quite nicely. I do pick up a little lemon tartness that smells a little odd, but maybe it is the rock candy. 

Dwarf Warrior- Notes: Patchouli, orange zest and blackberry. 

Awww sweet, fierce wee Gimli. His banter back and forth with Legolas was one of the highlights of the books and movies. This one may also be a highlight of the order. Great things come in small packages. The patchouli and oranges had me thinking it may smell like Karma form Lush, but now I am thinking I was wrong. The oranges smell like Squirt or Crush and the blackberries are candied while the patchouli is not head shoppy or dark at all but lightly musky and smooth. 

I watched "Once Upon A Time" for a while there on Netflix but once Regina killed Jiminy Cricket and Cora came to Storybrooke I left off of it. So I have no idea who Merlin and Hades are as far as the show is concerned. But Maleficent was one I was admiring pretty hard on The Melt Down Blog. 

Merlin- Notes: Silver birch, cashmere and vetiver.

I love wizards and I love birch and vetiver. How could I pass this one up? It is magical to my nose for sure. Overall it smells clean and slightly masculine but not in a boring cologne or Axe body spray way. The vetiver is grassy and a touch smoky while the birch reminds me of mahogany. The cashmere lends an enchanting haze of amber and vanilla musk to the scent. I need more of this tall drink of wizard. 

Hades- Notes: Fireside and blue sugar.

I have had a love/hate relationship with Blue Sugar. I had a Doctor Who soap in it from Ballyhoo years and years ago and loved it to pieces, I have had it mixed with Pink Sugar from The Melting Fairy and hated it. Now I smell it with fireside and I feel like I am about to lose my gourd over it, it smells so incredible. Like, I roll my eyes and purse my lips as I inhale, kind of freak about it. What sorcery is this?! Soft anise tinged musk mixing with sugar crystals and smoky embers... is that marshmallow in there? I am dying. I want more. Please. Let me pay the ferryman to get me across the River Styx because I need more Hades. 

Maleficent- Notes: Dragon's blood, rosewood, dark amber, clove and rose jam.

I kind of wish Rose Jam had been left off. Because really, that is what hits my nose and hogs all the room. There is an earthiness whispering around the Rose Jam but it really doesn't stand a whole heckuva chance. Maybe some musk and woods from the amber and rosewood (GOSH I love rosewood), but I don't get any clove at all on cold sniff. 

My family and I just watched Guardians of the Galaxy for the first time last month and we are sold. We hooted and hollared through the whole thing. These two from the Galwaxy collection caught my nose.

The Collector- Notes: Blue sugar and sweet peppermint cream.

Blue Sugar alert. Losing my head over it again. Blue Sugar and peppermint cream are a dream, I would say this is slightly heavier on the Blue Sugar. And if The Collector smells this good I will gladly wipe down his tanks anytime. 

Groot- Notes: Creamy vanilla, sandalwood and driftwood.

Yes. Sandalwood bliss. Soft, smooth and creamy perfection. This sandalwood makes me curl my toes. It reminds me of the Pride & Prejudice scent I had from Two Timing Tart forever ago. A little clean, very mellow and filled with vanilla laced woods. Mmmmmm.

Twilight's Forks- Notes: Fresh air, oak, citrus, golden amber.

Eh, it is alright. It smells like that one Autumn Day scent or something that always reels me in by the description but never quite makes it for me. It smells like fresh air and leaves. But not in any authentic way but in the way candle makers interpret it. A little artificial. Not bad by any means but not one I will buy again. 

Dr. Doom- Notes: Lord of Misrule and vanilla bean.

I love this one. Lord of Misrule is already a favorite, a little earthy but mostly sweet and musky with heaping of vanilla... add more vanilla cream and I am one happy Doomsday camper. 

Bad Santa- Notes: Cinnamon sticks, peppermint and satin sheets.

Satin Sheets is one of those fragrance oils that is different depending on the company it is purchased from; it can range from a chocolate vanilla floral to a fruity floral with sandalwood. This one I think leans chocolate version but then I smell fruits in it too. Definitely flowers. Sadly this one does not translate well for me. I was hoping for a spicy mint with some woods but I get mint and fruits and spicy strangeness. I am not sure if I am even going to attempt to melt it. I am sure someone out there loves this though. 

Moody- Notes: Black cedarwood, rain, juniper berries.

Constant vigilance! I am glad my eye spied this fragrance concoction. Mad Eye Moody offers a beautiful rendition of woods and dew and forest life. The cedarwood is not pencil shaving cedar but more dry pine wood. The rain lifts it and rounds it out. I cannot say that I can pin point what the juniper berries offer... but it all works together to create a lovely Acadian forest. 

Free sample:

Modern Family- Notes: Cucumber mint, apple slices and lemon wedges.

Hm. It is interesting and unique but not sure if I like it or not. The cucumber is throwing it all off for me and I am not sure I like the lemon version here, it is mighty powdery and harsh. I think I decided to pass. 

Overall, I am thrilled with this Super Tarts order. The scents that stood out to me as favorites of this order are Hades, Dr. Doom, Groot, Treebeard, Merlin, Dwarf Warrior and The Collector. I think Maleficent and possibly Sam's Shire may grow on me. 

Have you ordered from Super Tarts lately? Which Super Tarts scents are your favorite? Do any of these ring your chimes? 

Nautical Nerd: Hogwarts Case from Society6

I got a new phone and a new phone needs a new case. Serendipity (so nice to use that word without meaning wax for once) brought a Society6 coupon code for free shipping and $5 off any phone case. Adam and I narrowed it down to this Hogwarts mash up of all the beasts. I thought it would be a nice merger of Harry Potter and the upcoming Fantastical Beasts film. I bought the tougher case version this time. I like that the Society6 cases have an inner padding. But I am not liking that the rubber pulls away from the hardshell case on the bottom half. Still over all a very happy nerdy customer.This ran $38 originally.

What type of phones cases do you gravitate towards? Have you tried Society6 yet?

Library Book Sale Haul

Our library has a Friends of the Library program, where any donated books get sold at really great prices. They usually showcase a certain genre and recently it was Fantasy and Sci-Fi, just what I love. These books were $0.50 each and they all appear to be promising (because I DO judge a book by its cover-I just strive not to judge people that way). So what did I pick up?

Nightbird by Alice Hoffman- I adored The Dovekeepers, and I know she wrote Practical Magic which was a favorite movie of mine, but I never read the book. This is written for children/teens, but I am very much enjoying the story anyway. It revolves around an old family curse where each male born child has large black wings, written from his younger sister's point of view.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan- A bookstore that harbors secrets that its clientele plumb and the temporary bookstore worker who solves the mystery. 

Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia- A little more racy than I normally go as of late, but a plot of a velociraptor PI and a secret society of dinosaurs disguised as humans, recommended by Dave Barry? How could I resist?

In The Woods by Tana French- Three children lost in an Irish wood and only one survives, grows to be a detective and must return to the same woods to solve a similar mystery. It takes place in Dublin. In woods. I have to like it.

The Conjurer's Bird by Martin Davies- An elusive bird and passionate love story that straddles two time periods. I mostly bought it for the cover. 

Have you read any of these? I have been warned about Anonymous Rex but I plan on plugging ahead until I feel otherwise. Thank you all for the amazing recommendations last bookish post. I plan on tracking them down to read as well. Fun fact: the Nightbird book was accidentally bound upside down so I look like I don't know how to read a book when I have it open before my face. It's kind of comical. Whatcha reading?

Books!

Remember this? Well I have been happily documenting my progress and I thought it would be fun to meet up and have book talk. See what we have been reading and swap recommendations. So here is what I have completed (*=poor, **=good, ***=great):

1. Storm Front by Jim Butcher **(Dresden Files series about a wizard PI in Chicago- funny!) 

2. The Giver by Lois Lowry ** (Have not seen the movie, should I?)

4. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell ** (The ending was kinda "meh" for me, tainting the story a bit.)

6. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer *** (Really interesting book about a boy clone and nature vs nurture).

8. The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare (Not rating yet because this is my current read. Is that cheating? Thank you Tricia for lending it to me!!)

9. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ** (Disturbing, poignant, but again the ending ruined it. Too much philosophical pining for my liking.)

10. Elizabeth I by Margaret George ** (This beast took me about 4-5 weeks to read. It offered a view of her life in the last 20 or so years of her reign.)

12. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater ** (The third book from the Raven Cycle but left ho-hum, hoping the final book will make up for what this one lacked. I do recommend the series for YA fun. This has witches so it counts.)

13. Cinder by Marissa Meyer ** (Neat fairytale twist where Cinderella is a cyborg and aliens form the moon come to Earth to rule.)

15. Odes to Common Things by Pablo Neruda*** (Poetry, who'da thunk it. I loved it. In fact so much I am sharing an excerpt with you. Because it is my blog. And I can.)

"Ode to a Cluster of Violets"

Crisp cluster

plunged in shadow.

Drops of violet water 

and raw sunlight

floated up with your scent.

A fresh

subterranean beauty

climbed up from your buds,

thrilling my eyes and my life.

One at a time, flowers

that stretched forward

silvery stalks,

creeping closer to an obscure light

shoot by shoot in the shadows,

till they crowned

the mysterious mass

with an intense weight of perfume

and together

formed a single star

with a far-off scent and purple center.

Poignant cluster,

intimate

scent

of nature,

you resemble

a wave, or a head of hair,

or the gaze

of a ruined water nymph

sunk in the depths. 

But up close,

in your fragrance's

blue brazenness,

you exhale the earth,

an earthly flower, an earthen

smell and your ultraviolet

gleam

is volcanoes' faraway fires.

Into your loveliness I sink

a weathered face,

a face that dust has often abused.

You deliver

something out of the soil.

It isn't simply perfume,

nor simply the perfect cry

of your entire color, no: it's

a word sprinkled with dew,

a flowering wetness with roots.

Fragile cluster of starry

violets,

tiny, mysterious

planet

of marine phosphorescence,

nocturnal bouquet nestled in green leaves:

the truth is

there is no blue word to express you.

Better than any word

is the pulse of your scent.

17. Four Seasons of Marriage by Gary Chapman ** (It made me smarter about my marriage, the most important question it gave me was to ask Adam "What can I do to make you feel more loved?" We ask each other that from time to time and it has moved mountains.)

18. The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon *** (A story built around a mentally handicapped institute held white woman and her deaf African American lover who fight to keep their love and sweet baby child safe from the dreaded hospital they run from. Read this.)

19. Anne of Green Gabels by L.M. Montgomery** (Late to the party on this one I know, but there are tons I never read in school that others seem to have read. Cute heart warming story that made me smile and gaze on my own spunky girls with affection.)

21. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler** (The adolescent feminine power that developed kept me turning the pages on an otherwise so-so story. Opening line "Froggy Welsh the Fourth is trying to get up my shirt.")

22. The Real Boy by Anne Ursu*** (A beautifully written and illustrated story about an alternate telling of Pinocchio.)

25. The Hound of Baskervilles by Sir Arther Conan Doyle*** (I may be biased but as a huge Sherlock fan, I loved this story. Published in 1902, I think this fits as over 10 years old.)

Whew! What a post! So I have about ten more to go before I finish this challenge. Have you been reading much? What do you recommend? I need to fill more spots!!!!

Warmed Wax: Vintage Chic & Enchanted

The Enchanted Candle Company 'Til Death (gift)- This is a blend of sweet rose and dirt. The sweet rose reminds me of Lush's Rose Jam with red ripe strawberries. The combination of the two created something really exciting! The throw was medium strong to strong but only lasted a few hours. I would repurchase if it would last a wee bit longer. I do love this blend though.

Vintage Chic Scents Pin Curls & Finger Waves- Pink Sugar Marshmallow. STRONG. This tart was made almost a year ago (March 2014) and I won it in a giveaway in a wax group on Facebook. This perky rose resided in my bedroom warmer and came gliding all around the whole house for several hours. That virtually never happens. I am not sure what sorcery this was, but I will take it. Surprisingly, the Pink Sugar sang backup to the more vociferous Marshmallow. REPURCHASE. Yes, please.

Currently Reading: The Hound of Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and enjoying it. I love seeing how the Sherlock TV series uses the original stories and twists them to fit modern times. Often it is quite shocking how closely aligned the two tango. I am reading the free version on my Nook (under the free 25 Classic Novels II compilation) not this Scholastic version, which is wrongly titled. One hound. Not plural. But maybe this particular book is about the TV series. I digress. I picked this image because it combines the 'Batch with the book. And both are pretty awesome. This fits number 25 on the challenge (book older than 10 years, I think 1901 qualifies times ten). The writing is witty and the characters are well formed. Crack open a Sherlock adventure! 

Earthtastic! Outlander Soap

My sweet friend Ashley gifted me with these two bars of soap themed from one of our favorite book series/TV shows... maybe you have heard me mention it? Outlander? Yes? I do tend to wax poetic about it. It is one of my favorite love stories. Anyway, these soaps are named Jamie's Soap and are made by Earthtastic on Etsy. I do not see them on there currently but they sell some neat looking items.

This is one complex scent. I gather soft leather from well worn saddles, tendrils of campfire smoke from a night spent on the moors, a hint of spice and oats from his morning parrich. I could see how some might deem this as a masculine scent but I hold no such qualms. Large clusters of bubbles form when lathered and provide nice cleaning action. My skin does feel a little more on the dry side after use, but as a lotion user I easily alleviate that. I use lotion on my skin every night and sometimes during the day, so I deem my skin dryness level on how quickly I feel the need to put on my lotion, do I have time to do my face routine before feeling the need to apply lotion post bath/shower? No? Then my skin is extremely dry, itchy and tight. Face and hair? Semi-dry. Face, hair, and other pre-bedtime routines? Then my skin is good but will still get lotion. This soap was a semi-dry kinda evening. The smell is so stellar though, that I could careless.

Hope you are keeping warm on this chilly start to November! 

Missouri River Soaps: Wax and Owls and mayhap a bit of Sherlock....

Those eyes... those large owlish eyes are gazing at me, pleading for their lives. Alas, I must cut them and melt them at some point. At least I know of one that has made it out of my wax stash alive and now resides in a sweet girl's bedroom.

Once Holly posted those owls on the Missouri River Soap Facebook page, I knew I was a goner. I find it funny that the eyes can influence me so much on something that is just meant to melt into a puddle and smell good. A box full of scent shots would be just as efficient at creating a cozy home atmosphere as a box of rabbits, owls, food shapes or colorful chunks. But I fall for the visual appeal every time. Maybe my mind subconsciously interprets it as a vendor's dedication and talent. Maybe I feel if the owner takes the time to create a beautiful wax tart then she certainly has taken the time to make it a quality one. Or maybe I am just attracted to the pretty. Of course there are exceptions, I have had plain colorless disks throw 100 times better than a full fledged work of art. Thankfully, Holly's look great and perform great.

Sugared Donuts- Sweet, cakey and vanilla laden. Wonderful comfort scent and perfect for company or others who like simple but well done home fragrance.

Butterscotch Rum- Caramel drenched spiced rum cake. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. For being small, these leaves were mighty. They threw strong caramel and spice around my living room and kitchen for two evenings. Excellent.

Cozy in the Kitchen- Warm homemade apple cider. I plopped a whole owl into the warmer and it threw a medium to medium light apple cider scent. I think I should have cut them in half. Maybe the 2.5 ounces was too much. I was in a reckless mood and throwing caution into the wind (and owls into the warmers, willy nilly).

Peach Bellini- Ripe Georgia peaches, so bright that they masquerade as mangos and vanilla infused champagne.

Jolly Rancher Type- Watermelons, apples, strawberries all formed into those colorful transparent rectangular prisms we all knew and loved in our childhood. Open the bag of candy and this is the scent that wafts out. Now and Laters come to mind as well.

Hi guys!

Free Samples in: Clean Cotton, Gourding Around (yes!), Realli Vanilli, Sunshine + Rainbows, and Jamaican Me Crazy. I now will be stalking for Realli Vanilli, because girl you know it's true... oooo....oooo...oooooooo.... I love... vanilla.

I have been dipping into the mystery genre book bin at the middle school. I read Agatha Christie for the first time. I recently discovered she is the third most read author after God and Shakespeare. I thoroughly enjoyed And Then There Were None by Agatha. Next, I hauled out The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and have been loving it. Especially after watching some of the series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Those guys have Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters down pat. I have only watched all of season 1 and 2, so please, no spoilers! What any good shows lately? Read any good books? Who do you think has the best looking wax? Please! Do tell!