Scents and Sensibility

It all started yesterday with a little lunch-time mystery that I had presented to my peeps.

"I just bought something that I've never worn before and I'm going to wear it tomorrow."

When a person whose hairstyle hasn't changed since Kennedy was president says she's going to wear something new tomorrow, people pay attention.   [Did she say Kennedy?  I think she meant Taft.]...Note to self--don't walk away from blog while daughter is in room.

They guessed a variety of things, finally throwing out the seemingly absurd and ridiculous:  "A purse?"  "A dress?"  "Perfume?"

That's right.  I bought some perfume.  So I guess it didn't really all start yesterday. My "fancy" transformation started about a week ago, when my library bud Roxi came to school with a light jacket of "MMMM!" tossed atop her shoulders.  I kept whiffing her throughout the day, making up excuses to get close.  Finally, when a few students mentioned how good she smelled, I made my move, knowing my nose really did have good taste (can a nose have taste?).

I asked Roxi what kind of perfume she was wearing and if she would care if I showed up one day smelling just like her.  She gave me the name as well as her blessing to go forth and smell better.

I went to Walgreens that day and asked the lady at the cosmetics counter if she could point me to the perfume collection.  She pointed to the counter I was leaning on and--lo and behold!--there was the perfume.  When she finally found the bottle of Armani Code and told me the price, I thanked her and immediately left, stunned that something not called "Columbia Gold" could cost $65 an ounce.

I bought a little sampler of it online and spritzed myself this morning on my way out the door.  I had a date with my lunch bunch and didn't want to let them down.

You see, after I told them I bought some perfume, the rest of the conversation turned to the scents they've loved through the years.  It was--surprisingly--absolutely fascinating to me, despite me knowing nothing about perfume.  Even Chuck, the lone man at the table, talked about colognes he loves and the remaining bottle of his mother's perfume--complete with a wax top--that still sits in his house.  Finally, it was decided that, tomorrow, we would all wear our favorite scent (or, in my case, the only scent I own that isn't Arrid Xtra Dry).

And so, we spent the day giggling and sniffing each other. At one point, Chuck and Yulia stood in the library, leaning into each other's shoulders, breathing in each other's scents.  The fact that our principal was walking through the library at that very time only made the moment more memorable.

I don't know if my scent was a hit.  It smelled so strong to me the moment I sprayed it on this morning that I immediately went to the kitchen sink and soaped up.  Still, I was giddy to get to school and breathe in the exotic smells of my lunch mates, our memories flashing to olden days when Calvin Klein was obsessed and grandma had White Shoulders.

I'm pretty sure it was my favorite lunch of the year.