5 Miler and latest perfume obsession

Yesterday I ran (aka jogged slowly) the 5-mile long run on the training schedule. I decided to make it extra challenging by doing it over the Cooper River Bridge . It might not look like it, but it is a pretty good hill to run up and down, and it was uber windy. In fact, it was my windiest run ever! I am not a tiny little thing, but I couldn't run without getting blown around...I literally couldn't run straight because the wind would push me left and right. There is nothing quite like trying to make it up a hill when nature itself is trying to blow you back down! It was actually pretty fun because for some reason the bridge was packed with walkers, runners and bikes all struggling against the fierce wind, so it created a kind of camraderie of "us against the wind" on the bridge. I jogged for 63 minutes, from one side of the bridge to the other and back and it was fantastic. I was excited to get out there, my legs and lungs felt great, my music was energizing. Although good tunes make me want to dance, and it's hard to run while simultaneously doing the macarena and moving my body like a cyclone....you get some strange looks:) Rich is going this evening after work to get his 5 in so we'll both be on track with our training this week.

My latest hobby is perfume. I love everything about trying new scents, the ones I adore at first sniff, the ones that take a while to grow on me, and the ones I can't scrub off fast enough! I love how one whiff of a particular scent can instantly transport you back (days, months or years) to the last time you smelled it, how a scent can instantly evoke a memory you didn't even know existed in your mind. I have broadened my view of what smells good. I used to just love fruity floral things, and I still do. But now I also love Fireside, which smells like a campfire, and Bulgari Black that was intended for men and smells like new rubber tires and vanilla...odd but lovely! I recently received my order of smaples from a company called Bond No 9 that has lots of perfumes all named/scented after various parts of New York City. They have some absolutely gorgeous and fun bottles. My favorites from them are New Harlem which smells great on Richard, like cozy sweaters and roasted coffee beans; Lexington Avenue which smells like creme brulee and has a stunning black bottle with shoes all over it, Saks 5th Avenue which is a heavy, creamy gardenia in a classic black and white bottle that would be a perfect match for our black and white bedding, and West Side which is a lovely vanilla rose packaged in a bright red bottle with a big music note. There are actually 7 of these I love, I'm not sure how I can narrow it down. Plus they are ridiculously expensive, so I may just have to make do with my samples for now. Just look at these bottles, aren't they to die for!









Poor Richard, I am always chasing him down to smell my hand, my knee, my elbow, wherever I have dabbed all these samples. Luckily for me he is not one of those guys that hates perfume, so he is a good sport about it and gives me his opinions. We do have very similar tastes on what we like, so that's good. Anybody else out there have a perfume obsession? If not perfume, what is your odd hobby? Am I the only cooky one out there??