Car. Gas. Man smells.

Here's a fun fact: I love hot rods. Muscle cars. You name it. Do i know a THING about them? No. Absolutely not. But I really think that oogling at vintage cars is the overlap in the ven diagram between man an woman. Lay your peepers on these babies from a recent trip to my favorite city, Austin, TX. 

Basil on the Brain

I love basil. I think it's fresh and zippy, and, at the risk of being too abstract, is a great spring gateway herb between rosemary in the winter and mint in summer.

The other day I went to Whole Foods to get my usual post-spin class bison burger patty. Actually, this was only the second time. I rarely actually cook, and I cook meat even less (read:never). When I saw there were no patties made, I went in to a brief state of panic. But I forged on and decided that I could DO this. I would, for the first time EVER, make a burger.

"What should I mix in with the meat?" I thought. And then it struck me, BASIL! I had just had a wonderful basil cocktail at Farina in San Fran a few days prior, so basil was on my mind. For many, this may not have been much of a feat, but for a beginner like me, I felt quite accomplished!!

(For anyone interested, the drink was called the Basil Supreme: Square One Cucumber vodka, basil, Cinzano Dry Vermouth, Sugar)

This Smells Expensive

Well, this morning was sub-par. I'm not gonna lie. So I tried to lift my spirits the way any american woman age 18-30 would do: I bought something that I didn't need that was too expensive. Today's drug of choice was Kinerase HydraBoost Intensive Treatment. (I'll be 30 in a few days so I'm upping my game in the skin care category)

This evening I just COULD NOT WAIT to wash and moisturize my face. Two pumps later I smoothed the soft blue serum over my so-far wrinkle free face. DE-FREAKING-LICIOUS. I searched frantically for the ingredients to figure out what was gracing my nose's presence. (At first it smelled a little like grape juice, but alas, no ingredients fit the bill)

There is some orange oil, but no... the magic combo is in the orange oil and (tiny drumroll) evodia fruit extract.

Well well well, after a little research, I think evodia extract is going to be my new best friend.

Apparently, it helps with arthritis AND headaches. Good for this almost 30 year old to keep in her back pocket.

Where the hell have YOU been?

I can smell that bitch from down the road!

Spring is in the air....and it's cruel

Yesterday I took myself for a walk in the wet, post snowpocalypse defrost. I could smell spring, I SWEAR! But it is still light years away. This was proven by my giant sleeping bag coat I reluctantly wore today. I hate you february.

Pink Medicine

That's what my parents called it. And as a child it came in liquid form. It had a sweet smell, somewhere between candy and disgusting. Anyways I've been taking antibiotics for a sinus infection and just now smelled it... before I put it all together an image of the folks popped in to my head. Thanks m and d.

Chicago and the Chocolate Factory

The Blommer chocolate factory sits exactly between my apartment and my school. I can never smell the chocolate from home, but I can count on smelling it as I leave school in the evening. I wish I could tell you that the smell of the chocolate fills my soul, warms my heart, etc etc etc. No such luck... the consequence of the chocolate factory in the city, is unfortunately quite opposite. You see, by the time the smell of the semi sweet cocoa hits my nose, the hearty, thick scent that I have come to expect from chocolate has been replaced by a metallic tin-like situation. The scent takes a journey through the city streets, all the while, picking up more undesirable scents on it's way: trash, wet sidewalk, more trash, exhaust. So by the time I can smell it, it no longer offers me the soul filling, heart warming benefits of all-things-that-include-sugar-and-butter. It's like falling asleep knowing there is a snowstorm outside, and by the time you get around to playing in it, it's already dirty with soot and yellow with dog pee.