Author: Tobia

Fragrance Collection

- Tobia Leave a comment
fragrance Collection craftaliciousme seeking creative life

When it comes to fragrances my experience shows that there are two kinds of personalities. Ok, maybe three if we are counting the ones that don’t use fragrances at all. I am not talking about those. Either you are having one fragrance in your bathroom, one that you have probably picked up around teenage years and continue to use (until it is discontinued). The other personality is having a whole assortment of fragrances in the bathroom.

Reading the headline you can probably guess what kind of personality I am.

Today I share all my fragrance collection – the ones I am currently using, collecting and which you would find in my bathroom.

Burberry Summer

This is one of my very favorite scents. Unfortunately as the name says it is a limited edition. I was gifted the 2011 Edition I think by Mr. ♡ and loved it. So in 2012 I asked for another bottle for my birthday. I think this one is actually my third and the 2013 Edition. It is slightly different from the 2011 Edition not only in color (it used to be more peach) but also in the smell. I have made peace with it that most likely I will not get a replacement. There were no summer editions lately I am aware of.

I use this scent for many of my day when I want to feel happy, light and if I need a lift up. This smell is always good if I am stressed or close to developing a migraine. It’s a fresh floral scent with orange blossoms and red currant.

Green Tea by Elizabeth Arden

I call this my anti-migraine scent. If I feel a migraine creep up or I already have one this fragrance actually helps. It is very light and subtle and smells of citrus and mint. It is also the most affordable one in my collection and I think the only one I have ever bought for myself. All others are gifts. This one is almost like a body spray. Wearing this scent is like stepping out of the shower.

Idol d’Armani

My sister gave this one to me for the 30th birthday. I have to admit it is a scent I would have not picked myself. However her thoughts on picking it out for me were really touching and so this means a lot to me. As you can see I hardly wear it. I call it my tough business women scent. Unfortunately it can trigger a migraine and so I am hesitant in using it.

White Tea by Elizabeth Arden

This has become my second favorite fragrance. It is very close to the Burburry Summer one with fresh mandarine and citrus note combined with white tea and white iris.

I discovered this fragrance when I was waiting for a flight in the airport. There I usually stroll around the perfume shop and give certain brands a sniff. I actually have some notes on my phone or Evernote where I keep a list of fragrances I want to sniff. If I like them I usually ask for them as gifts. I am glad I came across this one. As you can see I desperately need a replacement and hope one Christmas will hold it.

Limited Edition by Yves Rocher

In my early twenties I had a weird phase of wearing golden glittery eyeshadow and bronze shades. I loved it when having tanned skin and how it all sparkled. This fragrance is a relict from this times. When you shake it there os gold dust in it. I loved the subtle glam on my chest during summer nights. Unfortunately this was a limited edition and once I realized it will not be continued I basically stopped using it for fear of running out. That is more than 15 years ago. Last summer I decided to use it as perfume can turn bad. This one kinda has but I can’t quite get rid of it yet. I mean all the gold dust….

Boss Orange by Hugo Boss

Advertising worked for this one. I have gotten a sample in one of the women magazines and used it. Liked it. Found another sample. Used it again. And then asked for it for my birthday. This is one I usually use when I am color coordinating my fragrance bottle to my clothes. I know I am a bit weird. It is not my most favorite one as it can be a bit on the heavier side but it’s a good business scent for me.

Cool Water by Davidoff

This brand is probably known by every single one growing up in the 90s. So it comes as no surprise that it was the first perfume I ever gotten. When I was 14 my confirmation took place. For that I not only gotten a new dress but also my first fragrance as did my sisters years after me. They both stuck to the ones they choose for that occasion and it has become their signature.

I however refer to it as my sports perfume. I usually wear it when I feel sporty, when I want to be active if I dress in sports clothes. It is a memory scent for me now. I probably wouldn’t by it now. And after I finish this bottle I have the feeling there won’t be a third or fourth one making it to my bathroom cupboard.

Miracle Summer by Lancôme

I remember this scent quite clearly. I bought it with a coupon I received from my work place in my early 20th. And I bought it with Mr. ♡. We must have been just starting to date. I remember standing in the store forever not being able to decide what I should get. This one was the best scents in a rather boring selection. And for some reason I am not a fan of Lancôme. Not sure why.

Years later I realized what Mr. ♡ was sacrificing when picking this one out with me as he really dislikes perfume shops.

And there you have it my current fragrance collection. As you can see all my scents are more on the summer citrus fresh side. I don’t care much for heavy, strong winter scents. Also I am not a fan of vanilla fragrances.

Now I wonder how many different bottles you call your own. And what is your go to scent? Drop some names in the comments so I have something to smell once we are allowed to go shopping again.

Happy spraying

Tobia

This post was not sponsored by any of the mentioned brands. If Burburry wants to send me their next summer edition I wouldn’t say no though…

Hot Tomato Soup with Rice

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hot tomatoe soup with rice

When I started this blog there was a regular post series called “Soup Sunday“. Pretty soon I realized I can’t post soup every Sunday. Still my love for soup has not diminished. I love soup and eat it often – specially during winter time. So when I started cooking today my hot tomato soup with rice I had left over, I figured why not share a recipe.

When I cook soup I usually don’t do anything fancy but whip up something with ingredients I can find in the fridge and the pantry. Often times it is made of left-overs.

Soups with added rice are a childhood favorite. When I used to be sick and my mom would ask me what I’d like to eat I would always say rice soup. It was basically just some chicken broth with a few carrots and rice. I loved it.

So today I got a bit more adventures – or choose the quicker recipe.

Ingredients you need:

  • 250 ml Tomate passata (sieved tomatoes)
  • 250 ml water
  • 2 tsp pesto
  • 1/2 tps chilli flakes
  • salt
  • 1/2-1 cup of cooked rice
  • 1/2-1 cup cubed feta cheese
  1. Pour tomato and water into a pot and start heating.
  2. Add pesto, salt and chili flakes. Let simmer for a bit.
  3. When close to being done add rice for three minutes.
  4. Add feta before serving.

Enjoy your quick and easy hot tomato soup.

Tobia

Happy Feet – Happy Day

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Polka dot socks craftaliciousme seeking creative life

Ok, now let’s get a bit silly today and talk about socks. I recently discovered that having fun foot wear is setting me off to a good start. Happy feet happy day basically. And who can’t use that right now.

I am not sure when all this started – maybe its pandemic based. Maybe it started when I became a solo entrepreneur. Being in the home office all the day and walking around without slipper it’s just fun to look at happy footwear when you wiggle your toes. And no one is judging you either.

I wasn’t always that adventures when it comes to my socks. For years I was actually really practical. I bought the sam socks in big backs – mainly black a few white ones and once I went crazy with blues. The advantage only having 3 kinds of sock in the drawer is obviously. Never looking for the matching pair. If one sock has a hole throw it out because the other one will fit with any spare sock. This system was working for years. I mean it’s pretty smart, right?

Polka dot socks collections craftaliicousme seeking creative life

But as I mentioned for some reason it got a bit boring. However I stayed true to my main style theme. My wardrobe contains only a selection of colors – that hasn’t changed in the last five years. I have many shades of blacks and grey. I do own a good selection of blues and coral shades and also whites. And my socks are actually still black and grey – now they just have polka dots and stripes and sparkles. Sparkling socks are perfect for days that need celebration. Polka dot sock are a good companion when I feel playful or need some cheer up. And stripes… Stripes are always a good choice.

Do you have any quirks when it come to socks? Or maybe style in general. Are you going only with a certain color scheme? Or patterns?

While I like my socks to look fun I wouldn’t say I am an addict. I do not follow brands or instagram accounts that are dedicated to happy feet and fun socks. I didn’t even know that was a thing hence a community out there. But I guess nowadays you can find like minded people with every quirk there is.

Right now I wouldn’t mind some bluish socks with polka dots though.

Happy toe wiggling

Tobia

DIY ENVELOPES TO SPRUCE UP SNAIL MAIL { RECYCLE QUICK TIP #14 }

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DIY envelopes made of recycled paper calendar pages and wrapping paper templates as download on blog

If you follow me on Instagram you have probably seen how I come up with fun DIY envelopes to spruce up snail mail. While they are not as fancy as back in my teenage days it is still a lot of fun to see what I can come up with. Finding a fancy envelope in the mail box always makes me smile. I love the anticipation until I finally get to open it and read the careful written words from loved one. And it so much fun spreading the cheer to other mail boxes.

➢ KEEP ON READING

2020 I think I am done with you

- Tobia 3 Comments
2020 I think I am done with you

Remember the time right around now last year? We were excited about 2020. We were doing reviews on how our last decade was and made plans what the new decade will look like. We were all excited about 2020 because see how beautiful it looks when writing. So neat, so innocent, so perfect… 2020 I think I am done with you. You did not keep your promise and yesterday I decided I don’t need you anymore.

Dear 2020… you start to annoy me. You make me feel like it is February and yet when I look at the calendar it says November. Where did the time go? What did I spent those month with? I hate wasting time. It is so inefficient. Don’t get me wrong I love my “nothing” time but I choose to waste it. Now you are taking control and the seconds, minutes, hours and days just slip by.

Dear 2020… you show the worst in mankind. So many egocentrics. So many crazy people. So many people who use this pandemic to place their twisted political believes. This scares me. It destabilizes societies and open up ways to believes we would otherwise have energy to battle. But we do not. We are trying to survive. Literally.

Dear 2020… you don’t give us a break. It just started all over again. Lockdowns, frustrations, financial anxiety, keeping distance, not seeing friends, not hugging loved ones.

Dear 2020… you make fun of me. My word of the year was moxie. Yes I see the irony. All those exciting things I wanted to do. All those projects to tackle. All this things to cross off my list. I tried. I don’t care you are laughing. But you know, it is not very nice. Have a look around to 2019 or 2018 they were mean but they were also nice.

Dear 2020… you bring out boredom. But not in the good way. Those days where I start to annoy myself. It is one of the unproductive kinds of boredom. Where you just want to go to bed at 7 pm because you are just so done with everything. I have had enough of those days already. Not even a book can swep me away.

Dear 2020… thank you for not being as terrible as you could be. Thank you for my healthy family. Thank you for a job that pays money. Thank you for a lovely home. Thank you for the husband. Thank you for still laughing in this house despite everything.

Dear 2020… lets part soon and keep each other in our memories but let’s just be friends for a phase in life and not make it a permanent relationship. 2020 I think I am done with you and you have given me your everything. And if you have more to give please don’t.

Bye Bye

Tobia