I like catching up.
What I've been doing and smelling in the last month.
Hello! It has been a long minute since I’ve published anything here and for that, I am sorry. Though I did have every intention of switching to bi-weekly posts, I was unprepared just how busy the summer before getting married would be for me. I think this was a bit naive and delusional on my part but here we are.
This week I’d like to catch you patient folks up on what I’ve been up to since May and what those memories smelled like.
Crystal’s Wedding
The day after my last post went live, my aunt, Crystal, got married. It was such a special day that went by far too quickly. One moment we were arriving to the bridal suite attached to her wedding venue, and the next we were being lined up to walk down the aisle.
I was Crystal’s flower girl which felt fitting since our relationship has always been more sisterly than a “typical” aunt/niece dynamic.
Some of my favorite moments (among many) were seeing Crystal’s vision for herself come to life (she was such a beautiful bride), dancing to El Sonidito with my family, and getting my Mimi to flip off the photobooth camera.
What perfume was I wearing?
I’m so glad you asked. I was wearing Flaming Creature by Marissa Zappas. I’ve written a lot about my love for Flaming Creature. It is a stunning floral perfume grounded by a rich and decadent rum note. It’s addictive, it’s romantic, it’s femme. It’s perfect for a 28 year old flower girl.
Bachelorette Astrocampelorette Weekend
As a sober person with nerdy interests, I didn’t have a super naughty, sexy, and debaucherous bachelorette weekend planned. What we did instead, was book a cabin in Idyllwild California with my favorite gals + nephew, Marlo, and Marlo’s dad, Leo. It was themed after one of my favorite experiences as a child, Astrocamp. Astrocamp is a space-centered camp for kids and I have been chasing the high of Astrocamp since I was ten.
The weekend started with arts & crafts, homemade pizza, and board games. The next day we enjoyed a quick hike, Met Mayor Max (for the uninitiated Mayor Max of Idyllwild is a golden retriever. He is a very good boy who listens to the needs of his constituents and loves to help his community.), tie dyed some clothes, had a sushi dinner, followed by more games. The last day was mellow and filled with gluten free bagels which is a huge treat for me these days. Shoutout to Zoe for driving, Selena for planning, Jade for painting, Xenia for craft supplies and all my other ladies and gents for being there and enjoying the weekend with me!
What perfume was I wearing?
During the day I was wearing a decant of Narciso Rodriguez’s Pure Musc Blanc that the world’s best boss, Shaya, gave to me. It’s such a clean, light, and wearable scent that it was perfect for the winding car ride up the mountain.
My dinner scent was Poeme Noir by Sylhouette Parfums. I finally own a full bottle after my mom purchased it for me as an early birthday present. (Thanks Mom!) It’s the most beautiful whiskey tobacco perfume with just a hint of jasmine to diffuse it. I love it so much and I’m so happy to own a full bottle.
Mad dash to complete our wedding invitations
Early on in wedding planning I decided that I would be hand making the paper and envelopes for our wedding invites and writing and addressing them myself. I figured save on money and waste on time instead. Here’s the thing. I have zero regrets about this decision. The invites turned out beautifully and I’m extremely proud of myself for learning a new skill and for creating something with my hands that I’ll get to keep as a memento forever. That said, this project really did take a lot of my time and by the end, I was dealing with some wrist pain. I was also behind schedule so every morning before work, I was outside trying my hardest to get everything done in time. This cut into my gym time and in general kind of threw me for a loop.
So word to the wise, if you’re planning to DIY anything for your wedding, make sure to set realistic expectations for the amount of time that may get sunk into a project and also be kind and patient with yourself. It will get done and it is worth it, but work is work and it’s good to know that going in.
What perfume was I wearing?
None. Paper making involves a lot of water which would have washed away anything I chose to spray. That said, I do feel like Chinese Calligraphy by d’Annam closely captures the scent of paper pulp for those curious.
Vegas Birthday Getaway
I turned 29 on June 16th, and to celebrate, my fiancé and I took a quick little trip to Vegas. In addition to celebrating another year around the sun, this was a good opportunity for us to meet with our wedding photographer, Erin Roberts, and pick up our marriage license ahead of our Vegas ceremony happening in September.
We started the trip by visiting the Bellagio Conservatory, one of our favorite spots to visit each trip. They change the flora and theming seasonally, it’s open 24/7 and it’s free to visit. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Vegas. Next, we stopped by Diptyque in order to purchase Figuer, the candle we’ll be lighting to set the mood for our wedding reception. We followed that with a trip to the pool, a butterfly pinning class at Cemetery Pulp, and dinner at Flour & Barley.
Our second and final day and Vegas was spent by the pool, visiting our favorite Vegas bookstore, Writer’s Block, meeting with Erin, picking up our license, antiquing, and visiting Ethel M’s chocolates.
We kept it pretty mellow this trip and I left feeling relaxed and spoiled.
What perfume was I wearing?
I packed way more perfume than I would ever use for a two day trip. I brought Pure Musc Blanc (which ended up being a perfect wear for triple-digit Vegas heat,) Hikari by Inverso Profumi, an excellent green tea floral, and Flaming Creature. I also left Diptyque with samples of Philosykos, Orpheon, and Do Son, which Travis and I ended up trying over the course of both days.
Sam, the wedding coordinator at your service
Right when we got back from Vegas I had to hit the ground running the next morning by attending a wedding rehearsal for a brief side quest I picked up coordinating my (former) neighbor’s wedding. Have I ever coordinated a wedding before? No. Will I ever do it again? Probably not. Why was I on this side quest in the first place? I’ll tell you.
Travis and I had the world’s best neighbors right across the hall from us until May of this year. We would take turns cat sitting for each other whenever we go out of town and just generally looked out for one another. I won’t lie, I’m still pretty devastated that they moved. Now, more than ever, having great neighbors is really meaningful for me and I’m grateful for the time we had with them across the hall.
Now, they knew that I had never coordinated a wedding before. However, they also knew that I had catered weddings, managed weddings at the restaurant I used to work at with Travis, and that I am generally a type A control freak with the ability to get shit done.
When they asked if I would coordinate for them, it was an immediate yes. I was just honored that they trusted me enough to help them on their special day. Also, despite my inexperience in this specific role, it was a breeze because the bride is detail oriented in the same way I am and created a perfect road map for me to be able to help them execute their vision.
The day of the wedding ended up being a twelve hour work day for me. It was as much fun as it was laborious but by the end, I was limping. I managed to tweak my back early in the morning and suffered the consequences the rest of the day and into the next. So, though coordinating for our sweet neighbors was rewarding, I have no plans to open up for business.
What perfume was I wearing?
Though I will not be giving away the location of their wedding venue, I will say that the wedding was marked by lots of greenery and gorgeous florals. I wanted to wear something light and pretty that wouldn’t offend any of their guests and that would match the decor. I went with Lilas by Fragonard. Shaya brought me a decant from her recent trip to France and I have loved it so far. My fiancé described it saying, “It’s like if Nosferatu was happy.”
Take me to The Nat
To celebrate my birthday belatedly, my best friend and I had made plans for her to come over so we could watch season one episode ten of New Girl together. This is the episode when Schmidt turns, “TWENTY NOINE!”
However, on the day of our plans, she surprised me with tickets to the San Diego Natural History Museum. I went from thinking I was going to have a boring lazy day until she came over to getting dressed and excited for our plans. I love The Nat and I was jazzed to go with Selena who had never been before.
We had so much fun and I genuinely can’t choose a favorite exhibit. That said, I always love to see the beautiful bug pinnings. The Nat has so much to see and it’s so interactive. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Balboa Park.
After the museum, we worked up quite an appetite so we headed closer to home to grab dinner at one of our favorite spots before heading back to my apartment to watch New Girl. It was such a fun surprise of a day and I’m so grateful to Selena for the fun and spontaneity she brings to my life.
What perfume was I wearing?
Milk & Matcha by Obvious Parfums. Ever since we got Obvious into The Drydown Boutique, I have had to actively attempt to wear anything other than my sample of Milk & Matcha. It is so perfectly creamy and frothy with a photorealistic matcha note which stops it from ever going cloying or sticky. It is without a doubt my favorite matcha perfume that we have in store right now and though I promised myself that I would purchase no more full bottles until after our wedding, I know that Milk & Matcha will likely be the scent to “break my fast” so to speak.
Cake Tasting with Chef Jade
I’ve spoken a lot about my crazy talented, hardworking, loving, baddass of a friend Jade on here. I think I’ve even mentioned that she is making our wedding cake. Well, the day to taste cake was finally upon us and it was just as much fun as you would think a cake tasting would be. Except for our cake tasting, we got to do it at home and with the bonus of getting to spend time with Leo and baby Marlo too.
Jade prepared three different sponges for us; mulberry fig, hojicha, and chocolate kinako. All three sponges were slightly different recipes and different levels of moistness and density as well. She also prepared three different frosting options; plum swiss buttercream with rhubarb preserves, goat cheese honey white chocolate whip, and chocolate mousse.
I won’t reveal which sponge and frosting we chose because I am lucky enough to have friends and family who read my Substack and I want it to stay a bit of a surprise. That said, I just need to brag about Jade a little bit more. After we tried them all and landed on our favorite combo, she revealed that she purposely paired the wrong sponge and frosting combinations in an effort to make it easier to focus on all the little details and aspects of the cake, like texture and flavor combinations. She’s such a smart cookie and I never cease to be amazed by her.
What perfume was I wearing?
I wore a sample of Oro Nardo by Xinu that Shaya brought back for me from her trip to Mexico. It is a gorgeous indolic white floral fume that has me chomping at the bit to take my own trip to Xinu.
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Just a week after my birthday, is my paternal grandmother’s (Yaya) and she happened to be in town. We decided to pick her up from my aunts and take her for a little Los Angeles adventure.
We started at the Noma Project, Noma’s pop up in Silverlake where you can taste some of the sauces, coffees, matchas, and kombuchas from the Noma team. For those that don’t know, Noma is a three starred Michelin restaurant based in Copenhagen famous for their preserves and ferments. Not to blow up my fiancé’s spot, but he’s a huge fan of their work as a chef who works to minimize food waste. He has even gotten to teach fermentation classes recently, so this was something we had to stop to do.
The team at the Noma Project were extremely knowledgeable and friendly. They took the time to let us taste everything they had to offer and it was a really enjoyable time. Travis and I left with the Corn Yuzu hot sauce, the Pumpkin Seed Praline, and a bag of coffee as a gift for Trav’s best man. My Yaya picked one of each flavor from their kombucha selection to share. All in all it was a very fruitful visit for us and I highly recommend stopping by if you’ll be in LA before they pack up in August. Also if you can make it to Copenhagen and afford the Noma price tag, I wanna hear all about it.
Our next stop was to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Travis and I had visited years ago early on in our relationship when they had dedicated the entire fourth floor to a Studio Ghibli exhibit, which I unfortunately don’t have photos of as they didn’t allow it at the time. However, this year they opened up a Ponyo exhibit and we figured what better time to see it and with what better company than my Yaya.
We started on the fourth floor of the museum and caught the guided tour of the Jaws exhibit. It was really impressive and cool to learn about all the challenges and setbacks that came with making one of the most iconic and recognizable films of all time.
On the third floor, we got to see what type of work the production design teams did for Barbie, Beauty & The Beast, and Anna Karenina. It was such a thrill to see props and to get to take a small venture into Barbieland. Next we walked over to the Marilyn Monroe exhibit which had so many of her iconic outfits and portraits. I get frustrated by how much people try to flatten her legacy and I hope H*gh Hefner is rotting for his treatment of her and for his fucked up need to be buried next to her. Sorry to get dark, but if I don’t use my platform to talk shit on that man, what am I even doing here?
Our next exhibit was finally the Ponyo exhibit. It was beautiful, whimsical, and pretty much everything I wanted it to be. Ghibli films always make me feel safe and reignite a childlike curiosity in me. I’m glad that they continue to be so beloved and celebrated.
What perfume was I wearing?
Milk & Matcha again. To be fair, I gave my fiancé three perfume options and told him to pick thinking he would help me pick something else, but he didn’t. Milk & Matcha is just that good! What can I say?
Thank you for patiently (or impatiently I don’t know your life) waiting. I truly did not intend on taking a hiatus, but I also didn’t anticipate spending all of my days off running around! I’m really grateful that I got to start this final year of my twenties in such a celebratory way. It feels like a great victory lap before I enter my next decade and my heart feels very full and awake these days.
I’ll be back in a couple weeks and I think I want to write about the new Heretic Ghost line that we got in. Let me know if that would interest you!
Loved hearing about what scent you wore for each occasion. Such a lovely read as usual ♥️
This is awesome!