Life as an Ebay seller (no I don't sell, no way jose!!)

Lately I've been perusing the negative feedback for big, big ebay sellers. I'm talking over 100,000 feedback sellers. I do it for the laughs because some are just hilarious. 70% of the buyers can't spell correctly. LOL My corrections and comments are in the parenthesis.

Like this one:
After i wait 2 weeks item was no available they canceled you guys suck.

Or this:

These are fake ping pong balls! 
(why the heck would ping pong balls be faked! bwahahahaha)
___________________________________________________
Who sends a lock in an envelope? Why would you disrespect my money in that manor
(it's manner, not manor)
____________________________________________________
missleading add. no responce from seller.
(Misleading ad. No response from seller)
_____________________________________________________
Take your money. ...you wait for your item for life..be careful friends
( I assume he's still waiting if he still alive, I hope so since he's my friend.)
_______________________________________________________

open product on christmas day for kids it didn't work sad faces that day
(is this a guilt trip they are laying down?!)
________________________________________________________

Sold item at low cost then couldn't find item. Disorganized? Bait-n-Switch? Boo

(reminds me of the old woman in Princess Bride that was yelling BOOO! at the Princess)

_______________________________________________________________

you can ship a car across the county in 9 days!!!!!!! one dvd disc still not her
________________________________________________________
there's not enough space to say how I really feel about this frickin company!

...every frickin case comes damaged!

...piss poor shipping!

...it's just one frickin thing after another!

 (^^^^ above all the same buyer! they bought 4 items Bwahahahhaa!!)
(I'm about peeing my pants frickin reading these!!) 
____________________________________________________

Was not what I ordered, I sent to Bali, because thought to be counterfit.

Reply by seller

This is Hanes bra! If unhappy why didn't you email me? I take care of my buyers

Item was a NEW HANES Lightly Lined Seamless Mesh Embroidered Lace WIRE FREE BRA - White

  Haaaa! That buyer sent the bra to Bali and it was a Hanes bra!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!


So if you ever need a good laugh, go read feedback on ebay. I recommend it to cure aches, pains and headaches. LOL

Spice Spice Baby!

My name is Lori and I'm a spice addict.

My cupboard is full of spices and spice blends. I buy them from all over... New Orleans, Kansas City, St Louis, Omaha, flea markets, tiny shops, grocery stores, strip malls, huge outlet stores, and of course, the internet.
I am always, always (<<that means A LOT!) buying new spices or blends in search of the 'perfect' one. Many have been tossed out because they were too tangy, too bland or had a flavor that I just couldn't use or get used to.
I also put spices and blends on everything. Meats, fish, poultry, in soups, casseroles, and salads, on sandwiches and vegetables, even popcorn.

I've bought from

 Columbia Spice Imports

 Urban Accents

 Head Country

I could just go on and on, but that's a lot of work, and I'm on staycation. A lot of the time I am disappointed. Having the expectation that it will taste a certain way and then it doesn't. I've held on to many a spice hoping that some day I'd use it for 'something!' But there it sits. Taking up room. So every year or so I purge. I literally have to because I have no more room for any more jars! Not only do I keep them in the kitchen in a huge double upper cabinet, but also on the door of the spare fridge in the bedroom pantry. I even have some in plastic bins in the pantry-those are the ones I like and can't part with but I don't use them that often.

So when I find a spice that I instantly love the first time I taste it, I'm all giddy.

That happened today.

I am cooking some pork ribs in the oven at 200 degrees all day today. They are for tomorrow's supper. I like rubbing some kind of seasoning on them but usually they are too salty, too paprika-ey, too heavy on some spice...just a general all out failure. Jeff's usually the one that tends to dislike any strong flavored rub. He also doesn't like paprika or smoked paprika so I have to watch to make sure the seasoning isn't heavy on that. A lot of the time I have to 'doctor' the seasoning up...like add more brown sugar, more garlic powder etc.

I may have found the perfect rub. I don't know yet because I will have to see what the ribs taste like after cooking. I might be disappointed again. We'll see, but the flavor I tasted seemed to be what I have been looking for. Sweet, with the right about of spice.

Here it is.

Urban Accents Pork and Barbeque Rub

 

O.M.G.

Ingredients: Salt, sugar, garlic, onion, paprika, thyme, coriander, ancho, chipotle, parsley, cloves, soybean oil and allspice.

Sweet! Not too heavy on the paprika and the cloves and allspice really add some dimension. Love the way it tastes on my finger anyway. Finger lickin good. LOL

I am also a BIG BIG fan of their


Heartland Pepper and garlic


I use it a lot on whole chicken roasted in the oven. I ran out of the first bottle, ordered another online about a month ago and then found them at Hy-Vee and bought their last two jars. See, other people like the seasoning too. I'm stoked because this Hy-Vee has all the seasonings that are available online. Now I don't have to pay postage or wait for them to arrive! Yippy skippy!

Another one is their

Mesa Rosa Chipotle


I mix it with brown sugar and sprinkle it on popcorn.

This place   Fireworks Popcorn  used to have a popcorn seasoning called Southwest Sizzle. They no longer make it. Combining the Mesa Rosa with the sugar gives me the exact same flavor. Yay! I even add a little cayenne sometimes to make it more spicy.
You have to try Urban Accents, their customer service is top notch and I have yet to be disappointed in anything that I've bought and I've bought quite a bit from them. Maybe that's another pic! Ya think? Hahaha

For lunch I am making sizzling rice soup with chicken and shrimp.
Here's how I make the rice.

http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa121801a.htm

Works perfectly every time. I like the fact that I can store the baked rice for later. I searched the internet to find this easy way to make the rice. Some sites said that after cooking the rice, leave the rice in the pan that sticks to the sides and bottom then add some oil and cook it until golden. That works too I tried that. But it was a witch to clean the pan afterwards.
In my soup I use carrots, celery, sliced shallots, canned mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and sliced water chestnuts.

I make a broth that intensely chicken flavored. I boil the sliced chicken separately in some chicken broth so the meat particles don't cloud the soup. At the end I will add the raw chopped shrimp, cooked chicken and sesame oil to the broth that has the vegetables. Then swoosh, in will go the fried rice. Tastes just like our favorite soup at Tsing Tsao but mine has more veggies and chicken and shrimp! Oh my!

My soup turned out superb! So, so good. The sesame oil on the top just finished the whole dish. I have left overs for tonight's supper of roasted chicken and crusty bread dipped in olive oil with some bread dipping seasonings that I got from The New Orleans School of Cooking the last trip there. I bought the Tuscany Blend and Rosa Maria Blend. See? I'm a freaking spice seasoning NUT!

http://store.nosoc.com/spices-seasonings-and-mixes/


The Rosa Maria has Garlic, salt, rosemary, oregano, thyme, black pepper, parsley flakes and canola oil.
The Tuscany Blend has salt, corn syrup, garlic, basil, tomato, green bell pepper, soybean oil and parsley.
I'm thinking of using one of them on the chicken.

The Tuscany blend is saltier and would be better on the chicken I think. The other one is going to be perfect for the bread dipping. Yum.

Bpal has this series of oils called RPG for Role Playing Games. It's one of my favorite series because the oils are resiny, dark and foreboding.

Here's what BPAL says on their site regarding this series:

http://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/rpg-series/

So far of this series I love Neutral, Cleric, and Rogue. I have some imps that I have yet to try.

Evil

Smouldering opium tar, tobacco absolute, green tea, black plum, kush, ambergris accord, ambrette seed, and costus root.


Yep, love it. The ambergris and green tea keep this one bubbly and lighter than the other RPGs I've tried, but it's still a deep scent. Keeper!

Mage

All mystique and thrumming power: gurjum balsam, Sumatran dragon's blood resin, olibanum, galangal, oleo gum resin, and frankincense.

Ut oh. I can tell I'm gonna like this one. Olibanum and frankincense are my friends.


Maybe not. LOL

In the vial it's super sharp, almost like there's pine in it. Off to wiki to see what Gurjum and galangal are...Galangal is somewhat like ginger, and wiki doesn't know what gurjum is. I will have to see what this smells like on the skin  before I know if I like it or not.

Dwarf


Iron filings and chips of stone, Styrian Golding hops, and soot-covered leather.

Oooh, resin with rootbeer. I like I like.

Lawful

Rigid oak, blue chamomile, rhubarb, and fig leaf.
Eeeew. Rancid green. SUPER sharp. Another one that I will have to have it on my skin before I can decide if I like it or not.

 

Geese, goofs, ogygia and taco stew...uh huh....chili

The other day I got out some frozen meats so I can make dinners through the week. I pulled out an whole organic chicken, stew meat, pork ribs and 2 steaks. We had the steaks last night with the best macaroni salad ever. It's called Amish Macaroni Salad on allrecipes. I've mentioned it before. In fact it's that exact recipe that made me become a member of allrecipes. Now I even have a published recipe!

Today I grabbed the stew meat but knew I didn't want to make stew since we'd had beef roast the other day with potatoes cooked in the brown roast juices--too much like stew. I also knew I didn't want to make beef soup. So as I was perusing 'stew meat recipes' on Pinterest. I found this recipe.



Oh Sweet Basil's Taco Stew


I'd never thought of Taco Stew before! So thanks OhSweetBasil for giving me the idea to come up with my own recipe. I'm not following her recipe at all except for some of the veggies and tomato sauce.

First I cut the stew meat into bite size pieces, then browned it in a little olive oil that I got from The Louisiana Pizza Kitchen restaurant a couple blocks from our hotel that we stay at in New Orleans.


Louisiana Pizza Kitchen FQ



I bought two of their oils. One has bay leaf, whole red peppercorns, whole black peppercorns, oregano and garlic cloves. The other is all red pepper flakes and one big dried red chili and man it is spicy as hell!  I put liquor pourers on the tops and they sit right next to my stove for easy access. I've already had to refill the herb one.

Once browned a bit, I added some beef broth to the meat and am letting that simmer for 2 hours so the meat gets really supple. I detest hard chewy beef in stew, soup or beef and noodles so I always cook it low and slow and long.

Meat getting loose and tender.^^^^

Once 2 hours have passed I will add onion, red and green bell peppers-chopped, and garlic and let that cook for a bit to tenderize. Then I will add some corn, diced tomatoes and dark red kidney beans. I am not sure what seasonings I will add yet. I have a liquid packet of Rick Bayless' Taco Seasoning and also umpteen dried taco seasonings packets. Will probably need to combine them both for lots of flavor. I want it thick so it can be scooped with the tortilla chips. Topped with cheese of course!

We had geese in the park across the street yesterday! Like about 15 of them all lazing in the shade of a tree and looking for food too. I had gone out to feed the fish and the two dawgs went with me. Stark is always at my heels anyway, no matter where I go or what I do. So after feeding the fish I headed back into the house. Stark, of course, came right in with me but Ava was standing by the pond. I looked at her and asked her if she was coming in. She just looked at me which is my cue that she's staying outside. She loves being outside but Stark always wants in. So after me and Stark got in, a few minutes had passed. I did a couple things and then decided to look outside to see what Ava was up too. That's when I saw the geese so I grabbed the camera. Haven't seen Molly the duck for about 2 weeks now--she's the duck that vacations in our closed pool. I look toward the patio and that damn dawg is on the couch!
Here's a quick vid I took of the whole situation.

I meant to say-Ducks in my pool. Don't know why I am always calling the pool the pond....guess it does kind of look like one with the water on the cover. We treat it with mosquito doughnuts and also a big chlorine tablet to keep the water from turning green. No wonder Molly hasn't been around. LOL Actually she came around after we'd done this so I know neither of those additions scared her away. If the dawgs didn't scare her nothing does!! She even lets me get pretty close. She sees and hears me come out of the house and knows I have cracked corn in my hand and if she's on the side of the pool she instantly jumps into the water and heads to me. She's so cute. Silly duck.

Ava always knows when I am taking her picture.

She also loves her pool and plops in it then plays with the water. She will lay on the couch or in the pool for a good 20 minutes each time. Even in the sun. They both have their own pool but they 'share'. Usually if Stark is in one pool Ava bullies him out of it, then he has to get into the other one. LOL She's so mean to him.

I'm changing up my recipe already. While looking in my kitchen cabinet for diced tomatoes I found a can of stewed tomatoes and viola! a jar of Old El Paso's Mild Taco Sauce. I am going to use that instead of tomato sauce. I do want the tomato chunks so I will use the stewed tomatoes too. I will chop them so Jeff doesn't get a big bite of tomato. I'll use their juice too. I don't have any diced tomatoes just big cans of whole tomatoes. Way too many tomatoes for Jeffy if I use one of them.
Later: I used 2 cans red kidney beans a packet of McCormick's taco seasoning-original flavor and one liquid packet of Rick Bayless' Taco Skillet Seasoning. I also took the kernels off two ears of corn.

Even later: The Taco Stew was really good but it was more like chili than I had intended. At the end I added some Mexican cheese and stirred it in, Jeff's idea. Next time I won't use any tomato sauce or taco sauce. Just beef broth.

I added cheese on top, then fresh tomatoes, onions, red and bell pepper, jalapenos and cilantro. Ate it like chips just like I wanted.

Blind bpal pick time!!

Ogygia


Say what? Wonder how that's pronounced?

Very light yellow in color.
In the vial: LOVELY! Lovely creamy soap. OMG this is gonna be a super good one. A vintage soap sitting next to a claw foot tub. Used by a Victorian lady with her hair up, held by lace. Milky smooth skin.

On the hand: Vibrant, luscious white and violet flowers. I need a claw foot tub full of this. Super uber, uber feminine. This is all female. Amberish. This is the kind of scent that you'd put on after a bath, then as the day progresses you can no longer smell it but every one that you pass can and they turn as you go by and they imagine an angel with gossamer wings just walked by. Magical. Memorable.

What's in this? Crisp sea air, kelp, and climbing vines, flame-singed cedarwood and juniper branches, cypress boughs, alder wood, violets, selino, parsley, glistritha, and white sage.

The vines, cypress and alder wood are so faint. It's mostly the crisp air. I need to look up selino and glistritha.
Selino is a wild greek celery.
Glistritha is also known as purslane--a plant with edible leaves. Glistritha is the greek name.

Ogygia, is an island mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, Book V, as the home of the nymph Calypso, the daughter of the Titan Atlas, also known as Atlantis (Ατλαντίς^[1]) in ancient Greek.

Hence the greek schtuff.

I love this. It's now one of my all time fave bpal oils. I need a gob.

And here's how it's pronounced.......

There. you. go.

Uh

Commercials just trip me out. Like the State Farm khaki Guy/Girl call.

"So what are you wearing Jake from State Farm?"

"Khakis"

"She sounds hideous"

"Well, she's a guy."

Bwahahahaha!!! It never gets old....LOL



The show Botched freaks me out too.  Some of these people that think they look better! It's unreal. Did you see the one where the guy is trying to look like Bieber!? OMG Why?! Why!? WHY!!!??? Okay, who am I to judge....I bleached my hair for 40 years. Since I haven't dyed it for over a year now it's getting longer! It's so much fuller too. I have hair again! Yay! No more break off. I will have to post a pic today once I wash it. I think we're going to the fair tonight.

It still has some blond on the ends but this is my natural color. The streaks in the bangs is actually gray. I have some gray streaks and it looks like my hair is frosted.

I'm on vacation all week. Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray!!

Staycation means.........laundry, cleaning, organizing, dusting those twice a year places that you hope no one sees, purging clothing and other items that have fulfilled their decorating destiny....Oh, and margaritas. Lots of margaritas. I just watched Good Eats and Alton showed how to make the perfect margaritas today. So I dvr'ed it and watched it........... twice. Thankfully Jeff bought me a sack of seedless limes at Sam's the other day! They are big and beautiful! Didn't know there was seedless limes.
So if there's no seeds, how do they grow baby lime trees? I always wondered that with seedless grapes and watermelon.  Now I have to wonder it about limes too now. Gah!

I see these limes in the fridge and I just want to cut one into slices and eat it. Am I the only one that likes limes this way? Probably not since there's what 6 or 7 billion people on earth....there HAS to be another human that likes limes like this.....Has to be!! THE ODDS ARE IN MY FAVOR!


We went to the Fair. It was exactly like last year, and the year before, and the year before that, and the year before that......and on and on for 40 years...

I had a pork tenderloin sandwich, a double hot dog corndog, half an egg roll, a crab ragoon, some sesame chicken on a stick and 3 beers. Yeah I was a little bloaty to say the least. My little Kodak easy share takes pretty good video, I thought while I was filming it wasn't very good quality but once I uploaded them they weren't too bad. They had some modified races going on and they can be heard in the background. We always have to check out the horse barn since I love horses and there were miniatures and Belgians in the barn.  Really? The biggest and the littles horses together? It was liking walking through the Looking Glass. There was a Belgian competition starting.

 

We like finding benches to sit on and just watch the humanity walk by. Here's the famous Bud Tent which now sells Coors Light also. Yuck. Why did they have to tarnish the Bud Tent!!! It was ICONIC!

 

 

Notice during the video I exclaimed I'd gotten a boob shot. It wasn't intentional but I realized while filming that it had happened. After uploading the vid I realized at the end I'd gotten a crotch shot for all you women out there! We went once through the Midway, while I munched on my corndog.  My husband finds it amazing that I can eat and drink more than him. Even in New Orleans...I start eating about 9am and eat all day. I also grab a daiquiri about 11 am and sip that sucker for over an hour. LOL

As we left we always hit the bathroom that's just outside the grounds. When I came out jeff was no where to be found. But I knew if I went around the corner I'd find him. Yep, my big 300 lb baby boy was mesmorized by the racing. Holding onto that fence just like a little kid. (He's a HUGE HUGE Nascar fan. We were Nascar fans before it was cool. He started collecting Nascar die cast cars in 1986. It started with a Tide Car that my younger brother bought for him. Now we have about 30 boxes of them. Sigh) I bet he peed so fast so he could get to this fence before I pulled him away. I fooled him though and taped while we stood there until the race was over.

Not too bad of a video since I was filming through a fence. LOL They were a LOT louder than this video. I love racing and asked him why weren't we in there watching them? I especially love the Knoxville sprints. Talk about loud and fast.
In the next video they were just coming off of a caution and were coming around the corner to the green flag.

Then we came home. I swear I weigh 5 lbs heavier. But that's what the Fair is all about!! LOL

OH! I forgot to mention. Jeff's deceased sister has a food competition named after her. Tammie's No Bake Desserts. It was the first year for it. She also has a plaque on a telephone pole next to the Bud Tent. I poured some beer on it for her....In fact you can see it it the bud tent video. It's right across the street in the bud tent video. I kind of zoom in on it at 10 seconds in....the gold plaque can be seen on it.

Blind pick again. I'll never stop doing them so just get used to it!

Remember this song?

Takes me back many, many years.

I'm in the mood for writing. Typing. Call it what you will.

November the bpal oil has fallen into oblivion....and it's only been like 2 hours, right? Not much of it left. Just some middle of the road floral fragrance. Not bad, somewhat nice. But non-descript.
Med-i-o-cre.

Loves me some Glenn Miller.


Remember the chicken song In The Mood? Let me find it!!

ROFLMAO I LOVED this song then!!!   I loved it when they all started singing really loud the last two choruses.....Hahahhahahaha


Ray Stevens was a genius!

Loved this song too!!

I've led such a sheltered life.....I never left the South side of Des Moines until I was 17. We took few vacations to anywhere new. La Crosse Wisconsin was one. With the family. Was 13 years old. Boring. Keosauqua Iowa. Young. Like 8 or 9. Cool because there was a 4th of July celebration....but when the black Mynah bird at the local hotel was the coolest thing to see......yeah.......not too great of a get-a-way.

When I was 17 I was shown by my sister the way to get the Merle Hay Mall which is 10 miles away. We got on Keo downtown then just followed it all the way out to the mall. Can you believe that? Now I know about ten ways to get there all courtesy of my husband who thinks I am a dork for not knowing Des Moines like the back of my hand like he does. I doubt he will ever see this.....  

_ i _ _

Screw you and every one that looks like you. hehe

If he saw this he'd giggle. And not care that I said it. I love my man.


Okay another blind pick, same ammo case....


8, 3 and 5 are my favorite numbers......

So how about #55 in the case....


Beaver Moon 2011

Brownish gold in color.

In the vial: Coca cola and brown sugar. A resin, like patchouli. I'm liking this a lot. Effervescent in the vial. Bubbly, like root beer. Succulent.
On the hand: Better than bourbon. Musky sugary goodness. Sexual. Rounded. A perfect balance of sweet and sensual. This is an ooh la la fragrance. Big Bottle Winner for sure.

What's in this? Lavender honey cheesecake.


I hate lavender and I don't get it in this scent. I also don't get the honey or cheesecake. This is a soft sweet resin, like frankincense and vanilla. Love it. Big bottle winner. I want to drown in this. Much better than November which faded to nothing. I don't know why the font changed but I am not correcting it. I kind of like this font and size.

I'm  keeping it!! At least until the next post. LOL

 

 

 

 

Kiss me Khephra

I once said that I loved Kiss' Unplugged version. I still do. I also love Crash Test Dummies and their album A Worm's Life just about the best. It was actually my least favorite album of theirs for over ten years believe it or not. But one day (I have them all on my computer) I played it while cleaning house and it just clicked. It was awesome! Freaking blew my mind that I had liked it the least all those years and now I loved it. I just ordered their 2010 album Oooh La La!, that I never even knew existed until a few days ago. They broke up years ago, so I stopped following them after Brad's album I Don't Care That You Don't Mind.

Here's a song from the Oooh La La! album. Loved it the first time I heard it. Usually it takes me a few listens to really appreciate a song.

I've been perusing bpal on ebay and now am in the mood for a scent. No blind pick I want to find one that sounds interesting.....
Here's one I've never noticed or heard of before.

Khephra


Got this about 2-3 years ago. I know because it has that freaky cartoon tape around the top to keep the lid on during shipment. I bought about 85 different bpal vials from that seller.
Gold in color.

In the vial: Medicine. Alcohol. The rubbing kind.

Okay, this is weird. I smelled it again in the vial about 2 minutes later and now it smells like rootbeer or cola or berries. I need to get this on my hand.

On the hand: definitely a patch or musk, resin. It's somewhat cold smelling too. A bit of a man's cologne is emerging. This is just a plethora of smells! It's all over the place. This would smell good on Jeff but he'd never wear it. If there is a musk or patchouli in it, it's pretty faint so maybe he would.

Weird again. I just smelled it on my hand again and now it's bandaids. I have never ever had a bpal morph like this so fast and so often. This is just crazy. LOL
I am smelling this so hard and so frequently that my nose is burning. I have to see what's in this....

Bah. No scent description just this: Hail unto thee who art Khephra in Thy hiding, even unto Thee who art Khephra in Thy silence, who travellest over the heavens in Thy bark at the Midnight Hour of the Sun.
Tahuti standeth in His splendour at the prow, and Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.
Hail unto Thee from the Abodes of Evening.

Here's some reviews:                     

         

**In the bottle: Very deep and bright w/ resins and has an herbal kick to it
On the skin: Still very deep resins as topnotes..middlenotes are a spicy, sensual mix of myrrh & amber, perhaps a bit of lavender too.
Afterhours: This is going to sound crazy..but I can smell sun-ripened tomatos & a slight note of black olives. Its not enough to make me not like it though..its a very complex oil..definitely the most complex i've smelled to date.
This would be a really nice scent for a guy, too

That's what I said!!! ^^^^^^ It's a plethora!!

**At first when I put it on I smelled cloves, maybe some cinnamon. It morfs Like said above flower chamomile or carnations. It is almost creamy, the clove is still there, it came on strong but is now settling in the darkness. I really like this, its long lasting too. Frankincense and amber or something that gives it that texture. Really beautiful. Hopefully I'm not saying this too soon but it may just be my favorite of the Stations of the Sun 4. There is a note that I just can't place, it gives it a masculine feel while being nurturing. Definatley unisex. Very beautiful.

 **In the bottle, I smell olive and something else, maybe wine. Very deceptive. On my skin, it smells like cinnamon with something floral underneath. In the diffuser, I smell storax with another floral scent underneath. This is a very complex scent, and it's hard for me to pick out the individual floral notes. But I think it will be a keeper, especially as a room scent

**First sniff: I’m having a very hard time figuring out how to describe Khephra. It’s… a big scent. I don’t mean strong, or overpowering… but it has a certain presence. I think the main note is amber, but it’s hard to be sure.

**Wearing: Warm, deep, musky and almost dark. It’s still just defying any attempt to describe the actual scent. I can’t even put a colour to it, and usually that’s where my mind goes when it can’t figure out the notes. I know it reminds me of The Lion, and I know I like it, but that’s all I can pin down.          

Me: Well at least I am not the only one that can't figure this one out. I like it but it's discontinued now. Bah! I might have sprung for a full bottle.

10 minutes later....oh yeah. Big bottle for sure. This is heaven and oh so unique. Subtle yet out there.

30 minutes....all resiny goodness. Sexy and sinful.
Love this.

 Yup, the song describes the scent.....but maybe a little less violent. LOL

Iowa The New Age Boring Place

Today I am trying some of Rick Bayless' Honey Chipotle Marinade with garlic and tomatoes on some size 8 shrimp. Gonna marinade the shrimp for a bit then skewer them and cook them on the grill. Once cooked I will chop them into smaller pieces for tacos. Out of the freezer I pulled some homemade refried beans (the best! so much better than canned!) and some Mexican pork chili that I made. It freezes nicely, so do the beans.
The pork chili is thick with tender pork and the way I like to eat it is in a warm tortilla with a salted and peppered over easy fried egg and onions. The egg breaks while I bite into the tortilla and spreads all over the spicy meat, while the onions add that crunchy, fresh, pungent bite. The chili is spicy with red pepper flakes, garlic and tomato sauce. Living in Little Italy/Mexico in Des Moines Iowa has it's benefits. Besides, the houses are affordable to us middle income families. I've lived in 4 places and three of them have all been in the same neighborhood. For 9 months Jeff and I lived in a trailer (now they're called mobile homes but we all know what they really are!! lol) on SW 9th. God that thing was cold in that winter. We had to keep the water trickling in the kitchen and bathroom sinks and shower and pour salt down the toilet to keep the lines from freezing. At one point that winter for about 7 days the only water that worked was the toilet and bathroom sink. We still kept those pipes from bursting, while two other trailers in the lots next to us had to have companies come out and thaw their lines and fix the ones that burst in their walls. That was a bad, bad winter. My 1972 Galaxie 500 which started no matter what the temp wouldn't start. We later figured out that it would have stayed started if we would have realized the keyhole needed turned back counterclockwise after starting. The keyhole was so cold that once the car started, the keyhole was in the forward position and the car thought it was still being started and it would shut the car off. We figured that out after Jeff got into it to start it and showed me the problem. I remember that since it wouldn't start I had to wait on the street for the bus to get to work and every bus that went by wasn't it and it was so cold that my eyes were watering so bad that all my makeup ran off my eyes and I finally called work to tell them I couldn't make it. I was out there for about 30 minutes waiting for the right bus. It was absolutely horrible being out there in that cold. I think it was like 50 below zero wind chill. It was December 1983. I just googled to see what the temp actually was and found this:
The coldest day of 1983 was December 24, with a low temperature of -19°F. For reference, on that day the average low temperature is 17°F and the low temperature drops below -1°F only one day in ten. The coldest month of 1983 was December with an average daily low temperature of 3°F.
Relative to the average, the coldest day was December 24. The low temperature that day was -19°F, compared to the average of 17°F, a difference of 36°F. In relative terms the coldest month was December, with an average low temperature of 3°F, compared to an typical value of 19°F.
The longest cold spell was from December 15 to December 31, constituting 17 consecutive days with cooler than average low temperatures. The month of December had the largest fraction of cooler than average days with 84% days with lower than average low temperatures.
The longest freezing spell was from December 15 to December 31, constituting 17 consecutive days with temperatures strictly below freezing.


http://weatherspark.com/history/30088/1983/Des-Moines-Iowa-United-States



See! It was bad!!! I tell ya, Des Moines is freaking mother effing hot and humid in the summer and downright freeze your balls off cold in the winter. Why the hell our ancestors ever decided to settle here is beyond all comprehension. I can only think that maybe they were sadists. At least we/they are unique. Nice way to look at it, eh? The glass is always half FULL. Always. Unless it's completely full, then it's overflowing!....hehe

Remember my Nemesis post from a couple weeks ago, that not only did I read a book by that name but had a bpal oil named that....well.......a few days later Jeff wanted me to find a specific brand of sunglasses on ebay. He had one pair already and needed another for one of our other cars. He didn't like having to transport those sunglasses from car to car....So he wanted a second pair so he wouldn't have to do that. He basically drives just 2 of the 4 vehicles we have.  He's not too Ebay savvy so I popped onto Ebay and asked him the name.

Yep. You guessed it. Nemesis.   FREAK ME OUT!

I then tried to tell him about the oil and the book but he really could have cared less. ROFL! That's okay I really could care less about looking at Autabuy Magazine and drooling over old cars....

He wants a muscle car. He owned a 1970 Super Bee when he was 18, but some jealous person put sugar down the gas line. He was devastated. We had some of the engine parts for years to that car but I finally made him get rid of them. He's a pack rat, I'm a pack rat so that's a deadly combination in a twofold. We couldn't even get a car into the garage until we bought the Mazda Miata last September. Now at least ONE side is cleared out. LOL The other side has an outdoor table with chairs, lawn mower, snow blower and grill, and a plethora of other stuff that he just throws in there. Ugh.  Truly though, I'd rather have this than an anal retentive man that just bitches all the time about stuff being out of place. I lived with that with my mom and want no part of it. Disorganization is my friend. Unless it's my pantry. Ha!


Gonna do a blind bpal pick...seems like it's been a while and I'm in the mood for scent.

When I open this ammo case of bpals it smells spicy. Lots of spicy florals and resins. Each ammo box I have has it's own characteristics. Some smell foodie, some sweet floral, and some spicy.     
Some still have their plummer's tape around the top from sellers to protect them from opening during shipment to me. I haven't chosen from this box in a while. I will review #33. Back in a second...

November

It was in the first spot in the 5th row. Next to that one with the pink tape around the top.

Light gold in color.
In the vial: Eww. That's what I said when I smelled it. Strong and sharp. Like sunflowers. Only slightly lemony. Mango but not sweet.
On the hand: the same sharpness, this has some green like pine, eucalyptus, pinesol, air freshener, maybe that whale vomit too. It's a bit aquatic. I don't care for the initial scent but as it dries it's getting calmer and more feminine. I bet I like this as long as nothing weird comes out in the drydown. I think I'll like it about 2 hours after being on since the first two hours will smell too strong.

What's in this?

I cannot find any listing for November anywhere. I've googled and googled. Even went to the bpal site and nada. Bah!

It must have been a forum or convergence oil only and not available for the general public. It is a decant. I can tell because it has a homemade label and not an authentic bpal label.

20 minutes: November is fading and fading fast. Not a big bottle winner even if I could find it. Blah.

Right now in Iowa it's corn poop time. Yeah. You know what I mean. Iowa is the number one state for corn. In fact, when we're out of state and we tell people we're from Iowa they automatically assume we live on a farm and grow corn, cows and pigs. We have to explain that....there are CITIES in Iowa! Cities with cars, buildings, and jails. We're not running around in bib overalls. We legalized gay marriage! And marijuana is next! Boo-yah!

So although Iowa is hot, hot, hot and cold, cold, cold, we're pretty open minded to all things, people and opinions. We have great schools, low crime, and friendly people. We also have great food and are rated high for job placements with the insurance and banking industries.
A Great Place To Grow and Fields of Opportunities! But we're pretty boring......

 

and honest...........

Storyville!!

There's another bottle of Bpal's Storyville up on Ebay. Remember the last one I posted here that went for $431.00!?

http://cattastroficka.blogspot.com/2013/02/bpal-lot.html


This new one's up to $305.01. Let's see what it goes for!! Woot!!!

All I know is this must be some good schtuff....

Just ended!! Not as much as the previous Storyville, but impressive nonetheless!

	Bidder	Bid Amount	Bid Time
	Member Id: 3***s( 160)	US $354.00	Aug-03-14 12:07:13 PDT
	Member Id: s***1( 95)	US $350.01	Aug-02-14 04:39:36 PDT
	Member Id: t***t( 262)	US $325.84	Aug-03-14 06:10:14 PDT
	Member Id: m***a( 56)	US $305.01	Jul-31-14 07:48:25 PDT
	Member Id: s***1( 95)	US $300.01	Jul-31-14 00:18:25 PDT
	Member Id: m***a( 56)	US $300.00	Jul-29-14 13:08:56 PDT
	Member Id: h***l( 231)	US $250.00	Jul-30-14 09:38:08 PDT
	Member Id: h***l( 231)	US $240.00	Jul-30-14 09:37:55 PDT
	Member Id: a***e( 153)	US $232.69	Jul-29-14 13:25:52 PDT
	Member Id: s***1( 95)	US $200.01	Jul-29-14 13:08:24 PDT
	Member Id: m***a( 56)	US $200.00	Jul-29-14 12:52:46 PDT
	Member Id: m***a( 56)	US $160.00	Jul-29-14 12:38:19 PDT
	Member Id: t***t( 262)	US $145.87	Jul-29-14 12:45:43 PDT
	Member Id: e***l( 52)	US $100.29	Jul-29-14 12:37:13 PDT
	Member Id: s***1( 95)	US $100.10	Jul-29-14 12:36:53 PDT
	Member Id: a***a( 110)	US $51.00	Jul-29-14 12:35:13 PDT
	Member Id: m***a( 56)	US $50.00	Jul-29-14 12:28:12 PDT
	Member Id: a***a( 110)	US $50.00	Jul-29-14 12:35:09 PDT
	Starting Price	US $18.50