Saturday 30 March 2013

Thank you!

Haha, I am a cheater! Yes, Paula's Diary ended. And now there is 'Paula's ...' well, I have not figured out how I am going to name the blog. However, it will continue right here, this is for sure.

The fact that you are reading this, probably proves that you have never clicked the button to unfollow this abandoned blog. Thank you for that!

I have received the super-cute tiny envelopes plus the Merci-card from a Maison des Parfumeurs in France. At present I am on a quest, trying to find my new signature scent. The envelopes above contain tiny samples. Many niche-perfume-houses offer this service for free or a small charge.

Those who know me, know how thoroughly I manage any type of project. I have made my homework:

I've visited "Noses" online (the Nose is the person who created the perfume), I visited to parfum-boutiques in Vienna, several times, since I never try more than one perfume per day on my skin. Somedays I ended up having unpleasent headaches, altough the perfume had been pleasant on the paper-sample at first. Somedays I could not get my nose off my wrist. It could be that I stick with my old, very pleasant perfume. I am still in the middle of the process.

What I like about the project is the lovely women I meet in the stores. Maybe I am just lucky but somehow they all have the same attitude towards me: They are really friendly, their character has a "warm" basenote (in a good way!) and it just takes a few "sprizz's" and it feels like talking with a friend on lunch break. Maybe they appreciate a customer who has done her homework? A customer who does not buy the first bottle that catches the eye, just because it says "Tom Ford" or "Jo Malone"? I entered the zone of niche-perfumes. The zone, where no marketing helps you creating an image. All you have is the scent on your wrist. your nose and your brain. A lot of those perfumes are actually unisex-scents. One perfume-house goes even a step further and won't even come with names - such as "Funfair Evening" or "Pure Virgin". No. All they tell would give you as a hint are the initials of the nose. pc01 hb02. Phew. 

Those conversations with my "new friends" in the store lead from whale-vomit (Amber) to African wildcat's poo (Civet) and other fun stuff (=ingredients). I will exclude any perfume that contains animal substances. The fact that I started to buy only vegan goods a few months ago leaves me with more than enough to choose from.

I am loving this project so much, I fear I might want to extend it beyond its deadline (SPRING! The plan was to wear a new signature by spring). Mr Paula is not too happy with my project. Woody-oriental, gourmand and green paper-strips layed out in our apartment. But he is brave. He had even manged to to stay in one awfully tiny store over 10 minutes. Then he had to give up. He escaped through the front door.


For calming our senses and nerves (yes, often I leave the shop being very excited), we visit exhibitions. Exhibitions on photography are most enjoyable! Lewis Baltz at the Albertina, Saul Leitner at the Kunsthaus, both are worth a visit ore even two.
The main stairs inside the KHM 

One of last year's projects after quitting Paula's Diary had been various photo-calenders for Christmas. Why did no one warn me how much work and how time-consuming such a simple gift like a photo-calender would be. December 27 2012 we already started collecting motifs for the 2013 edition. Mr Paula is SO attentive. (I wonder why this fact surprises me after so many years). However, last weekend we came across this fountain in the city. He pointed at it, saying 'Hey, look - here we have our 'March''. Do we want to be reminded of this oh-so-bitter-cold-wet-grey-windy-dark March we have experienced this year? We all know: Tragedy +Time =  Humour, so we might have a laugh under the Christmas tree in December 2013.
I am happy to be in contact with you and please, forgive me for writing in English only. Writing bi-langual was probably one of the reasons the time I spent for Paula's Diary became overwhelming.

I am not sure if watermarking the more important photos is a good thing or a bad thing. I definitely do not want to find my photos on other websites. Under no circumstances. So please excuse me for disturbing the motifs. It is likely that I will be lazy in the near future and forget about the watermark. We will see.

It seems as if 2013 is keeping 'Women's Worries Around 40' small. Very nice!

Thank you for reading, I wish you a Happy Easter weekend.
Paula

PS: It seems as if diptyque is still a foreign word in Vienna. You should see the faces in the stores where no niche-perfums are to be found. The sales assistents repeat 'Deep-teak?!', as if in a state of awe. Very entertaining!
PPS:  Tam Dao is the perfect scent for her significant other=partner=husband=boyfriend=big love. Oops. Doesn't my boss have two diptyque flacons on his shelf in the office?! :-o Hahaha!

16 comments:

  1. Willkommen zurück! Das ist schön :-)

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    1. Hallo nakura! Du warst eh noch nicht in Wien, zwischenzeitlich, oder? Ich würde mich sehr freuen, wenn du auch in der künftig vermutlich rein-englischen Version hier mitliest.
      liebe Grüße!

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    2. Uih, rein-englisch?! Määäh ;-) Aber ich bleibe dir trotzdem treu. Nein, wenn Wien aktuell wird, melde ich mich auf jeden Fall. Dieses Jahr wird's noch mal Bodensee mit der Freundin, aber wer weiß, wer weiß ... was dieses Jahr noch an Trips kommt. Wien steht ganz oben auf meiner Liste! :-)

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  2. I will write something about your post in the near future but for now I just had to say O MY STARS, YOU'RE BACK!!!!

    Signed, Forever Faithful

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    1. Hello dear Vix! I came to the conclusion that I chose the perfect time for a sabbatical: we have experienced 6 months of snow and snow on the camera-lens is difficult to manage ... now since Spring is finally moving in, it's the perfect time for more photos. And projects. :-*

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  3. What a nice surprise. So happy you are writing again for us!

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    1. Hello Ms.Ambivalent! Have we met before? I am happy see you enjoy the activity around here.

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  4. OT: Zum Kommentar bei Mangoblüte (Sie veröffentlicht meinen Kommentar nicht!). So daneben ist das Foto gar nicht, kommt dem hier recht nahe - http://multiple-me.de/ich-bin-keine-lady-gaga/

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    1. Hallo MIH! Was du alles so findest! Ich fotografier ja recht viel, da bekommt man so einen Blick ... findest du nicht auch, dass das Ohr schräg aussieht? Erste-Welt-Sorgen ;-)

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    2. Google findet alles ;-)
      Kann sein, muss aber nicht. Ist ja nur ein Schnappschuss,... aber mir fällt bei genauerer Betrachtung auf, dass direkt unterhalb der Perle der Rand und die Farbe nicht mehr stimmt.
      Ja, definitiv 1. Welt Sorgen ;-)

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  5. Welcome back, I am thrilled!!!
    No problem with the watermark, quite the opposite, glad you are protecting your images.
    xxx

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    1. Hello Merisi! Thank you so much for being one of the "loyal" readers. :-)) Don't you agree, this spring tests our patience ... every morning the same gray sky. I also want to document this year's spring. We all will be so excited as soon as it gets sunny, light and colourful!
      Have a wonderful weekend.

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  6. Yay! Paula is back! Susan is doing a little dance to celebrate.

    When I read about Mr. Paula escaping through the front door of that tiny shop I laughed. Mr. Paula and I feel the same way about tiny shops.

    Watermarks lessen the pleasure of viewing your beautiful photos.

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    1. Oh Susan, so nice to read from you, too! I guess we as couples are much alike. I am not sure if my nose needs a rest, just like Mr Paula. The ladies at the offices had an experience this week, this is sure. All those niche- and luxury scents, evaporating from my room. My colleagues have delicate and reliable noses. The comments ranged from "extravagant" (not so me), very "pleasant" (yay!), "elegant" (worth a try) to "let me sniff once more" (Bingo!).
      However, yesterday evening Mr Paula and I sat on the couch, I looked at him and felt it from my heart: "I don't feel like testing any more perfums this weekend".

      Yes, I see it too: the watermarks lessen the pleasure. Maybe I alter the watermark to a smaller, but still effective version.

      Off Topic: Over the months I received feedback regarding the tool I used for blogging and that it might have been the wrong choice. Those friends said WordPress would suit me better, since more Bloggers "like me" are blogging on/with WordPress whereas BlogSpot is the tool for fashion, lifestyle and food. What do you think? Does the tool really matter?
      I mean you are blogging with WordPress. :-)

      until soon!
      Paula

      PS: I really like your silk garnet rose coloured blouse you chose for the little celebration-dance very much! Beautiful in every aspect.

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    2. Hi Paula, I hope you are enjoying your break from perfum testing this weekend :). As far as WordPress goes, I don't know how to compare it to other tools because I've only used WordPress with the Thesis theme since the beginning. I don't think the tool really matters.

      If you would like to send an email my address is sdpartlan@gmail.com.

      I'm very happy you like the rose blouse!

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  7. Hi Paula,

    Thank God your´re back and so great that Easter for this year is over.
    Yes, I too have times, when I´m thinking why I´m blogging.
    I´m certainly not fishing for more and more " followers " and worrying about the amount of comments.
    I know that not everyone has the interest to write a blog, but what really annoys me, is that there is someone, who seems to nest on other people´s blog - someone, who actually keeps her own blog inside someone else´s blog.

    I like the watermark over the pictures, because it looks cool. No idea how to do it, and you hinted that it is time-consuming.
    Do people really snatch pictures from other people´s blogs? I have noticed that some have a text somewhere warning, that her/ his pictures are not to be used without permission..

    A calendar project? Are you going to pass them over as gifts for selected friends? Sounds like an interesting project :)

    About the perfume search.. Is the final one going to be an existing perfume?
    When I changed to a new perfume ( because I had to reveal my then present one to someone ),
    part of the choosing which one, had to do with the look of the bottle and the company.
    I know, I´m so vain.
    So I finally found something I like, and this time I´m not going to reveal " my perfume " to anyone again.
    I bought three, four perfumes before finding THE one. Expensive, too expensive.

    Enjoy your weekend.
    Still stuck with snow over here, blaah.

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