Sweet Earth

No, no, noooooooooo! No!

When I was a kid, I spent hours at my grandmother's vanity. She had a TON of makeup and perfume. I remember some of it specifically: Rapture perfume, which I mispronounced Rupture. Moon Drops iridescent lipstick. Maybelline mascara that came in a pan, and a palette of pale blue, green and pink eye shadows. Oh, I had fun playing with that stuff.

And by the way, my grandmother never really wore makeup. If she was going out, she'd put on a little Real Red lipstick by Revlon, and spray on some Emeraude. So I assume this was makeup left behind by various aunts and such.

Anyway, one thing I have never forgotten is her compact of solid fragrances called Sweet Earth. They were these waxy rectangles and there were three altogether: sandalwood, amberwood and patchouli. I guarantee you this was left behind by some hippie girlfriend of my uncle or something, cause gramma was not rockin' the patchouli by any stretch of the imagination. And they did not really smell the way they were described, they were way more floral than they sounded.

For years, YEARS, I have been trying to find just one signature scent (and that new doll scent of my deodorant that WILL NOT GET USED UP is not the scent I am going for). My mother-in-law always wears Opium, and you can't help but think of her if you smell it. I want that kind of thing. And in all the years of trying to find a scent that I am (a) not allergic to and (b) can stand after a month, I have always thought back to how much I liked those Sweet Earth solid scents. But of course I haven't even SEEN those scents since the last time I sat down to enjoy Land of the Lost.

Until TODAY. TODAY, when I have NINE MORE MONTHS of not spending. It's in Vermont Country Store catalog -- the catalog of my dreams. It is the greatest catalog in the world, because they have all sorts of things from your past that you thought were gone forever: bonnet hair dryers, Tabu lipstick, Click Clacks. And now today, SWEET EARTH SOLID PERFUME! Oh, the humanity.

Lately I have mostly just been putting my catalogs right into the recycle bin, cause why bother to look? It has really saved time and clutter and heartbreak.

Speaking of less clutter, when I get my bank statement now, it is one page. One. It shows gas purchased and groceries purchased, then transfers into savings. That's IT! So exciting.

On another topic, one of my coworkers just came back from a big trip to Africa and she had a lot if interesting things to say. She said that she and her husband could be described as very patriotic, pro-American people. But when they got on the plane to come home, her husband said, "We live in a tragic country. Tragic." She said the people of Africa are incredibly politically aware, from their tour guide to their taxi driver, and that there is no need for the biggest, shiniest, newest thing. She said she was struck over and over again by how much Americans feel the need to CONSUME, and that in Africa there is great concern for the earth, and for re-using and recycling. She came home and felt like getting rid of most of her stuff, and downsizing.

As someone who would have to pause before she could tell you who was Secretary of State, and who just had seven heart attacks over not being able to buy more perfume, I guess I should mull her comments over.