Raindrops on Roses, Whiskers on Kittens

The name of this post refers to the song "My Favorite Things" from that Rodgers and Hammerstein gem about a nun and some Nazis - The Sound of Music. But really, this post has nothing to do with any of the hijinks that surround those adorable Von Trapp kinder. Instead, I would like to make a WMWC list (haven't you missed 'em?) entitled:

These Are a Few of My Favorite... Smells.

Is it weird that I want to buy these for my housewarming party?

Why smells, you ask? Well, first off because my sense of smell is very good. Thankfully not as good as my mother's, whose smell is so keen she is disturbed by even the faintest scent of flowery perfume. Which, you know, was great for my self confidence. (Mom: "What is on you!? You smell terrible!" Me: "Uhh... Tommy Girl?") But this post isn't about the various ways that parents scar their offspring. Or about the fact that I still wear Tommy Girl but don't tell anyone. It is, instead, about the many scents I have encountered throughout my life that can bring up vivid memories or simply please my nosebuds (those don't exist). I'm going to try to avoid the obvious (baking cookies, freshly cut grass) since, well, duh. But since I know you're all chomping at the bit (oh the suspense!) here is the official Woo Me With Cupcakes Smell List '09... in no particular order.

1) Grand Central Terminal

This seems like a strange place to start, but it is one of my most favorite smells ever. It's hard to put my finger on its exact smell, but it's a cross between home and adventure. Whether I'm stepping off the train and back into the city or leaving the hustle and bustle, GCT means exciting things, new beginnings, endless possibilities, or that beautiful three-syllable word: vacation. 

2) Gasoline

I know a lot of people are divided on this issue, but the smell of gasoline is intoxicating. Agree or disagree, I'd like to know your opinion.

3) Freshly Washed Male

I don't mean to say that slightly dirty male doesn't also smell delectable, but there is something both comforting and tingle-inducing about the smell of a boy, preferably a cute one, who has just stepped out of the shower. It's a mixture of indifference (Who cares what soap I just used? I don't.) and simple freshness. A similar scent to this, though not nearly as good, is Clean Laundry.

4) Clove Cigarettes

Now, this is a weird one coming from someone who doesn't smoke anything (The Folds! The Folds!) but I really do enjoy the aroma of clove cigarettes. They're warm and inviting and exotic. And a little bit badass because, well, they ARE still cigarettes.

5) Adidas Cologne

Okay, this is even stranger than the cigarettes, and you're going to have to forgive me for it, but my high school boyfriend wore a cologne that I have somehow linked so tightly to my early high school years that one sniff brings me back to the mustard colored walls of Freshman year and I can just feel myself wearing men's pants and a Paul Frank T-shirt. Best part of college: learning to dress myself. 

6) New Books

This is the secret reason why I buy books I could just as easily take out at the library. Hard cover, paperback, picture book - the smell of new books is a glorious thing. Don't sneak up on me in a bookstore... you might find me sniffing up a storm in the New Fiction section.

7) French Vanilla Coffee

For a while, I thought hazelnut was where it's at. Then I got me some french vanilla and BAM. New favorite coffee smell. The end.

8) My Grandmother's Perfume

My Grandma has worn the same perfume ever since I can remember - something floral and freesia-filled, though I could be completely wrong. But a hug from my grandma (for everyone besides my perfume-averse mother, I guess) is like a step into a garden. An expensive, classy one. Located in Bergdorf Goodman's.

9) Nail Salons

There's just something about the chemical fumes, nail polish remover, and paraffin wax that scream "relaxation." I mean, even if you're NOT about the have your feet rubbed and are instead about to have the very hairs plucked out of your follicles (My new theory: Original sin exists and women are paying for it Every. Single. Wax. Thanks, Eve.) the scent of a nail salon means at least you don't have to do it yourself. Sit back, and let someone else torture you. That's luxury.

10) Chlorine

Chlorine means a pool, but more than that, it means a clean pool. See all those kids over there wearing floaties and doing handstands? That strong chemical scent means their fecal matter bacteria is being swiftly killed off, allowing me to swim in peace without threat of E. coli. Sharks and minnows, anyone?

11) Peppermint Tea

This was a difficult one to chose, since there are a vast number of beverages that smell awesome. Other examples? Hot chocolate, hazelnut hot chocolate, beer (Yes, I think beer smells GREAT), coffee, etc... But Peppermint Tea is so goddamn soothing, you can't help but get all zen just wafting it.

12) Mall Pretzel Stores

Forget the fact that I avoid Mall Pretzels like the greasy, calorie-filled plague that they are. Mall Pretzel Stores are like food smell porn. Picture this: You've been shopping for three hours. You're exhausted, your credit cards are still warm from an excess of swiping, and you can hardly see straight because of all the scanning you've been doing for The Perfect Outfit. In a daze, you stumble toward the exit only to pass... The Mall Pretzel Store. You stand there, take it in, absorb that delicious scent of salt and dough. And then you leave. But it was good while it lasted, wasn't it?

13) The Limited Too

This store, my friends, is the scent of my youth. That bubble gum lipgloss smell in conjunction with the smell of various synthetic pom-pom doodads just makes me go "Ahh, middle school. You were awkward." In a good way.

14) Street Nuts

Clarification: I don't mean crazy people who live on the street. I mean the venders who sell those nuts that I basically never eat but almost always love to smell. Nuts 4 Nuts or whatever. Right? Either way, they smell heavenly.

15) A Stage

I'm not sure why the theatre smells so good, particularly the stage part of it. And maybe my fellow performers can understand this a little bit. But step on a stage sometime and take a whiff of the professionalism at work. I mean, it smells like the kind of place where people do what they love and get paid for it. It smells like victory. Mmm.

There you have it, WMWC readers. A good solid fifteen smells for you to sit and bask in. And the next time you see me in person, please do me a favor - tell me your favorite smell. We'll talk about it, we'll reminisce together. We'll maybe even do a little covert sniffing.

Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle

There you have it, folks. My life is finally out of boxes and in Brooklyn, slowly settling down and making its way towards normality. Which explains why it's been so long since I've written a blog post. You know, it's hard to sit and focus when you aren't even sure what box your underwear are packed in and you're still trying to find someone to help you transport a mattress from Stamford, CT to Williamsburg on top of a Cheerio-encrusted minivan. Moving myself was a very labor and time-intensive job, and simply put: I'm beat.

But that won't curb my blogging, Cupcake Lovers! So I'll start with the inevitable question: Who helped with the aforementioned mattress? Who got up at the wee hour of 11 a.m. to snag me some discount twine and make sure I stayed below 55 mph? (Me: Omg! I forgot! There's a mattress tied to the roof!) Who risked his life letting me, the most timid driver ever, navigate various highways? Why, The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend, of course. Who must be given a new title at this point since we're approaching a ridiculous level of Are We or Aren't We. I'm tempted to put it to a WMWC poll, but since you all don't seem to enjoy commenting (you're more the sneaky, stalkerish type... like me) here are some ideas:

Possible New Titles for The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend (Formerly The Boyfriend)

1. You Know You're My Boyfriend So Stop Avoiding It

2. The Ex-Boyfriend Minus the Ex

3. The Confused, Reluctant, Sort-Of Boyfriend

4. The Newly Instated (But Not Officially) Boyfriend

5. My Male Friend Who I Sometimes Like and Sometimes Want to Kick. Hard.

6. The Boyfriend*

I don't know, I can't make any decisions right now. I'm going to give it some time and possibly go for the Roger Maris-esque asterisk since the original title of The Boyfriend has been marred. Either way, things with That Guy are fine and what happens will happen. Regardless, he's been nagging me to blog (Him: You haven't posted since May 9th! Me: I didn't even know that!) so I figure I have at least one fan. And at least he likes the Internet version of me. Sigh.

But that's enough about that. Here's the more important part of this post: My. Life. Is. Awesome. My apartment is fantastic, my bed is huge, my backyard is a dream. The other night I laid out on the grass with That Guy, my roommate, and her dad while we drank beers by the light of some lanterns I grabbed at Ikea. My roommate's dad told us stories from back in the day that involved LSD, road trips, and a whole lotta hitchhiking as the four of us tried to spot stars. Besides the fact that it wasn't quite summery and warm, it was a beautiful evening. And all I kept muttering was "How did my life get so good?"

It's true though. Even though everything isn't necessarily perfect, I am so lucky to have this place to live and call my own. And I'm determined for it to be kick ass. I painted my room alone. It took me like 12 hours of straight work and precarious ladder-standing, wondering if I would fall and no one would be around to hear my cries of "I've fallen and I can't get up!" But my walls are now "Morning Sunshine" yellow (two full coats!) and I feel like a NOW-joining, womyn-writing, Ms. Magazine-reading independent woman.

Yes we can, Rosie.

Along the same lines, I guess you could say that my current mood is Empowered. My roommate and I found this apartment on our own, we've basically furnished it and made it the Brooklyn Nook together, and now I'm really living life in a Grown-Up Apartment with a Grown-Up Job and Grown-Up Friends. I would even venture to say that I'm making the transition into full blown adulthood both smoothly and gracefully. And it feels good.

I know this post isn't necessarily up to par, but I just wanted to say to you who read this that I'm here, I'm constantly brainstorming about what to put on here, and I've now committed myself to being a Blogger. Example? When I interviewed to be rehired at Anthropologie (the store, not a misspelled version of the science) they asked me what I liked to do in my spare time.

My answer? "Well, I'm really into blogging, and I like to explore the city?"

Ha. Who am I? When did I become this cool, New York City person? I think I like it.

I Would Rather Be Asleep

Not to say I don't love writing on this blog - because I totally do - I just have a long day tomorrow full of an acting presentation (involving this great monologue where I get to be a crazy stalker bitch), a second round of callbacks for the fall show, lunch/dinner (linner?) with someone great, followed by putting everything I own into boxes. So some sleep would be nice. Not to mention I'll be gearing myself up for Sunday, which happens to be The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend's graduation from college. That I am attending. Weird, right?

How did that come about, you ask? I know, it's surprising. One would think from previous entries that I would not be privy to such an occasion - namely getting to see him wear a dress and a funny hat and commence. And before I tell you briefly how it transpired, I just have to answer something that I know you all lay awake at night pondering: 

Does The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend read this?

The answer is yes, he does. And sometimes he quotes it to my face or my phone, which is not nearly as strange as it sounds and is generally endearing. Also, he thinks it's funny. There, now you can all rest peacefully.

But unfortunately, I cannot. Too many thoughts swimming through my head coupled with too many attempts at falling asleep early that have failed miserably. I think it's a combination of stress about moving MY WHOLE LIFE into a new apartment that is not even nearly ready to hold MY WHOLE LIFE. I mean, I don't even have a bed yet. What am I going to sleep on? When am I going to paint it? Who can I hire to do all this for me? For free? Ugh. Curse adulthood!

Beyond that though, I'm nervous and excited for this whole graduation biz. I mean, it's nothing new to see The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend at this point, but it's getting down to crunch time, and by crunch time I mean "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" time (Thank you, Backstreet Boys.) This sassy lady waits for no man. Except that's a lie, because I've clearly been doing a lot of waiting. It's just a matter of how long I can wait before I start to feel trampled as opposed to slightly used. It's all a balancing act. And it doesn't help that my graduation invitation essentially sounded a little something like this... (Note: Artistic liberties have been taken. Deal with it.)

The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend: Uhh, I'm going to pick up my graduation tickets this week and um, well, I'll probably get some extras. And I mean, I think graduation's stupid and I don't care about it but, uhh, if you want to... I guess you can come.

Cupcake Lover: [Pause] ...are you inviting me to your graduation?

The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend: Well like, I don't care either way because I think graduation's ridiculous but uhh... I guess it would be... it's always nice to have you around.

Cupcake Lover: [Pauses again.] So wait, do you WANT me to come to your graduation?

The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend: If you want, you're welcome to come.

Cupcake Lover: [Sighs a tired, beaten down sigh.] Ohhh, you...

Eventually, in a separate phone conversation, we got to a point where the words "I want you to come" actually came out of his mouth, which is a big step. So I bought a dress, told him to warn The Well-Intentioned Ex-Family that I'd be there, and have planned to spend my Sunday up in cow country for what is probably the last time ever. Cue shoulder shrug. By the way, it's a super cute dress - an outfit that just screams Supportive Sort of Ex-Girlfriend. And if that position didn't exist before, it totally does now.

But enough about The Well-Intentioned Ex-Boyfriend, who probably no longer enjoys my blog considering I just wrote more about him than I normally do. (By the way, do you ever wonder why I don't abbreviate his long-winded title? It's because I really don't like the way it looks: TWEIB. That's so not cute. Plus, it sounds too much like "Dweeb" if you say it out loud. Say it. See?) I've been searching for other things to write about in life, ranging from ideas like "Now I drink peppermint tea. How odd!" to "How about those stupid Facebook quizzes? Ridiculous!" but nothing has really been clicking. So I opted to write about what I'm actually thinking about. I mean, for a really long time my Facebook Religious Views said "Honesty." And since Facebook dictates my life, I guess I have to stick to it.

But now, as the cartoon above clearly states, I Am Determined To Go To Sleep. For real. So I'm going to hop back in bed and give it another go, counting sheep and thinking good thoughts, etc... Have a good night, Cupcake Lovers. Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite!