Write Back Weekend "Smell Ya Later"
It was the best of smells, it was the worst of smells.
This week's TITMT was all about the smells that bring us joy...and pain. For some they even go one step further and trigger memories. For others they have to imagine what certain things smell like as they have no sense of smell themselves. Without sounding cliche, that stinks, though if you had to lose a sense, I suppose smell would be the best way to go. Not smelling could be a bitch, but not being able to see, hear, taste or touch would be even bigger bummers. But I digress. Here we go. My fine smells....
The Sweet Smells That Are A Success aka The Good Smells
1. The Detergent Aisle At the Grocery Store- Everyone loves the smell of clean clothes coming straight from the dryer, but did you ever stop to give props to the proper source? The winning combination of your washing machine and dryer are mere accomplices in this process. If you want to know who you should really write the thank you note to, look no further than the laundry detergent aisle at your local grocery store.
2. New car- Sure, getting a new car is exciting for all the obvious reasons, but another major bonus is once again acquiring that new car smell. People in masses started expressing how much they loved this smell. So the air fresh companies heard this and tried to recreate the magic, long after the real new car smell was gone by manufacturing new car scented air freshners. But no little tree, no matter how carefully packaged, can bring that new car smell glee back as much as that new car itself.
3. Dunkin' Donuts- Everytime I walk in to a Dunkin' Donuts I am overwhelmed by the goodness of the smell. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that makes their smell so special. I mean there are other places that carry all the same things, but for some reason, none of them manage to create the same, special blend of goodness. I often wonder if people who work at Dunkin' Donuts love the smell half as much as I do, or if that smell eventually loses it's appeal, like many objects of lust tend to do over time.
4. Coffee brewing- Don't be fooled. The smell of coffee brewing is an all together different smell than than of Dunkin' Donuts signature fragrance. Unlike the very specific time and place that is associated with the double D, coffee can be smelled anytime, any place. You can even journey to the about to be brewed section of your local grocery store. While you're there- be sure to check out the laundry detergent aisle, too.
5. Baked Goods- Ok, so maybe I'm painting with broad strokes on this one, but really there are a multitude of baked goods baking that make me happy. This made it nearly impossible to choose just one. Any type of pie. Any kind of bread. Cakes. Muffins. You name it. The weirdest thing in is that I often love the smell of baked goods more than the baked good themselves. I guess in a way that makes me lucky. If I loved eating them as much as I enjoyed smelling them, I'd have a much "bigger" problem on my hands.
6. A Fire Burning in a Fireplace- Although I've never had a fireplace, there's something about this smell that gives me the warm fuzzies inside. Better than the smell of being up close with the fire is walking past a house that has a fire going on a cool, fall night. In fact I did just that today. This is why the fireplace bit made the list.
7. Freshly Cut Flowers- If you've ever received flowers from someone, you know there is something far better than watching how pretty they look in the corner of your work cubicle. That something better is the smell they bring with them. I love leaving and then returning to a room that contains fresh flowers. It's a good enough smell to make you forget they are going die in a day or two.
8. Candles Being Blown Out- This is hands down, probably my most favorite smell of all time. Seriously. If I could bottle this scent, I would. It's the main reason, not unlike my love affair with baked goods, why I love birthday parties. I could care less about the actual birthday cake but I always say the more reasons to blow a candle out, the better.
9. The Beach- No, I'm not talking about the Lord of The Flies type movie that Leonardo DiCaprio was in a few years back. I'm talking about the real, live beach. It's an intoxicating mix of sea, sand, surf and suntan lotion.
10. Men's Right Guard Extreme Deodorant- To some this might seem like quite a peculiar choice, but ladies, if you've ever come close to a a man wearing this particular deodorant I doubt you'd disagree. The first time I realized I loved this scent was when I realized it was the deodorant my boyfriend wore. At the time he was still out to impress and would wear cologne too. But it wasn't the cologne that impressed me. Oh no. It was all about the deodorant.
Don't Stand So Close To Me aka Smells I Hate
1. Freshly mowed grass- If there was ever a smell like the ears Achille's heel- nails on a chalkboard, freshly mowed grass would be it for me. I don't have bad allergies, but the smell of cut grass makes the headache I didn't expect to get earlier that day suddenly come barreling to the surface.
2. Any Hardware Store- I can still remember being a kid and complaing about having to take a trip to Rickel's. See at the time, Rickel's was the Home Depot. Why? Because there was no Home Depot, or no Lowe's for that matter. They can smack any name on it they want. If they carry the sickening smell of wood chips and sawdust, it's all the same to me.
3. Movie Theater Popcorn- I don't know when I officially started hating the smell of movie theater popcorn. I mean as a kid I quite enjoyed going to the movies and getting the popcorn. But it wasn't until recently that I could once again enjoy actually eating some of it. The same goes for popcorn popping in my home microwave, but for some reason it's far worse at the movie theater. I think that's merely because there's just so damn much of it.
4. Cabbage Cooking- Cabbage is one of those weird foods I have a love/hate relationship with. I hate the way it smells while it's cooking and I hate the way it smells when you're done eating it, if you catch my drift (no pun intended). But the taste of it, when cooked right, is great. That just goes to show. You should never judge a book food by it's cover smell.
5. Cigarette Smoke- This is probably the most obvious choice on my list and doesn't really need much clarification. But just once more for old time's sake, let me try to explain something to all the smokers out there. Yes, the smell really is that bad and no, that fan doesn't help alleviate the smell not now, or even two days from now when my coat will still, no doubt smell like the cigarette I didn't smoke. Thank you very much.
6. Wet Dog- I love dogs. I love water. But dogs and water and enclosed spaces is quite the lethal combination. Thinking otherwise is just barking up the wrong tree.
7. Skunk- I once wrote a post about how a skunk must have died outside our house one night because the smell permeated the entire premises. I felt like I was in one of those horrible killer bee or bird movies only without the birds and bees. It was just this inexplicable, undeniable no way out feeling that washed over me. All that because a skunk is afraid. That stinks.
8. Morning breath- I don't care who you are or where you come from, your breath does not, I repeat, not smell good when you first wake up in the morning. And if you're sick, take that piece of advice and multiply it by ten. Now I just wish television and movie producers would be more aware of this simple fact. I like to escape reality as much as the next guy, but if I have to endure one more just woken up kissing scene I think I might barf.
9. Steam That Comes Out Of The Sewers in NYC- So maybe this smell is not exclusive to New York. All I know is that I don't smell it nearly as much in New Jersey. I think this is because NYC is a funkier city all together so it only makes sense their smells should be funkier, too. Perhaps it's just a city thing. All I know is that the smell almost always attacks you before you are about to injest something, like a hot dog parked at the stand right next door to that particular patch of grating. Nothng says "appetite lost" better.
10. Water Left Over From Flowers- This is a bittersweet way to make this post come full circle. You might remember earlier I picked freshly cut flowers as one of my scents of choice. But what Mother Nature doesn't tell you is that every flower must have it's day. And so after the flower unfortunately dies, the worst part, worse than the dying and disposal of the flower itself is getting rid of that nasty flower water that's left over in the vase. I don't know what it is. All I know is that flowers sitting in water for too long is the reason I don't buy more freshly cut flowers on my own.
I don't know how you feel about it, but just writing about those awful smells made me feel sick. I guess I should go bake some cookies or inhale some Right Guard. You know, just to take the edge off.
This week's TITMT was all about the smells that bring us joy...and pain. For some they even go one step further and trigger memories. For others they have to imagine what certain things smell like as they have no sense of smell themselves. Without sounding cliche, that stinks, though if you had to lose a sense, I suppose smell would be the best way to go. Not smelling could be a bitch, but not being able to see, hear, taste or touch would be even bigger bummers. But I digress. Here we go. My fine smells....
The Sweet Smells That Are A Success aka The Good Smells
1. The Detergent Aisle At the Grocery Store- Everyone loves the smell of clean clothes coming straight from the dryer, but did you ever stop to give props to the proper source? The winning combination of your washing machine and dryer are mere accomplices in this process. If you want to know who you should really write the thank you note to, look no further than the laundry detergent aisle at your local grocery store.
2. New car- Sure, getting a new car is exciting for all the obvious reasons, but another major bonus is once again acquiring that new car smell. People in masses started expressing how much they loved this smell. So the air fresh companies heard this and tried to recreate the magic, long after the real new car smell was gone by manufacturing new car scented air freshners. But no little tree, no matter how carefully packaged, can bring that new car smell glee back as much as that new car itself.
3. Dunkin' Donuts- Everytime I walk in to a Dunkin' Donuts I am overwhelmed by the goodness of the smell. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that makes their smell so special. I mean there are other places that carry all the same things, but for some reason, none of them manage to create the same, special blend of goodness. I often wonder if people who work at Dunkin' Donuts love the smell half as much as I do, or if that smell eventually loses it's appeal, like many objects of lust tend to do over time.
4. Coffee brewing- Don't be fooled. The smell of coffee brewing is an all together different smell than than of Dunkin' Donuts signature fragrance. Unlike the very specific time and place that is associated with the double D, coffee can be smelled anytime, any place. You can even journey to the about to be brewed section of your local grocery store. While you're there- be sure to check out the laundry detergent aisle, too.
5. Baked Goods- Ok, so maybe I'm painting with broad strokes on this one, but really there are a multitude of baked goods baking that make me happy. This made it nearly impossible to choose just one. Any type of pie. Any kind of bread. Cakes. Muffins. You name it. The weirdest thing in is that I often love the smell of baked goods more than the baked good themselves. I guess in a way that makes me lucky. If I loved eating them as much as I enjoyed smelling them, I'd have a much "bigger" problem on my hands.
6. A Fire Burning in a Fireplace- Although I've never had a fireplace, there's something about this smell that gives me the warm fuzzies inside. Better than the smell of being up close with the fire is walking past a house that has a fire going on a cool, fall night. In fact I did just that today. This is why the fireplace bit made the list.
7. Freshly Cut Flowers- If you've ever received flowers from someone, you know there is something far better than watching how pretty they look in the corner of your work cubicle. That something better is the smell they bring with them. I love leaving and then returning to a room that contains fresh flowers. It's a good enough smell to make you forget they are going die in a day or two.
8. Candles Being Blown Out- This is hands down, probably my most favorite smell of all time. Seriously. If I could bottle this scent, I would. It's the main reason, not unlike my love affair with baked goods, why I love birthday parties. I could care less about the actual birthday cake but I always say the more reasons to blow a candle out, the better.
9. The Beach- No, I'm not talking about the Lord of The Flies type movie that Leonardo DiCaprio was in a few years back. I'm talking about the real, live beach. It's an intoxicating mix of sea, sand, surf and suntan lotion.
10. Men's Right Guard Extreme Deodorant- To some this might seem like quite a peculiar choice, but ladies, if you've ever come close to a a man wearing this particular deodorant I doubt you'd disagree. The first time I realized I loved this scent was when I realized it was the deodorant my boyfriend wore. At the time he was still out to impress and would wear cologne too. But it wasn't the cologne that impressed me. Oh no. It was all about the deodorant.
Don't Stand So Close To Me aka Smells I Hate
1. Freshly mowed grass- If there was ever a smell like the ears Achille's heel- nails on a chalkboard, freshly mowed grass would be it for me. I don't have bad allergies, but the smell of cut grass makes the headache I didn't expect to get earlier that day suddenly come barreling to the surface.
2. Any Hardware Store- I can still remember being a kid and complaing about having to take a trip to Rickel's. See at the time, Rickel's was the Home Depot. Why? Because there was no Home Depot, or no Lowe's for that matter. They can smack any name on it they want. If they carry the sickening smell of wood chips and sawdust, it's all the same to me.
3. Movie Theater Popcorn- I don't know when I officially started hating the smell of movie theater popcorn. I mean as a kid I quite enjoyed going to the movies and getting the popcorn. But it wasn't until recently that I could once again enjoy actually eating some of it. The same goes for popcorn popping in my home microwave, but for some reason it's far worse at the movie theater. I think that's merely because there's just so damn much of it.
4. Cabbage Cooking- Cabbage is one of those weird foods I have a love/hate relationship with. I hate the way it smells while it's cooking and I hate the way it smells when you're done eating it, if you catch my drift (no pun intended). But the taste of it, when cooked right, is great. That just goes to show. You should never judge a
5. Cigarette Smoke- This is probably the most obvious choice on my list and doesn't really need much clarification. But just once more for old time's sake, let me try to explain something to all the smokers out there. Yes, the smell really is that bad and no, that fan doesn't help alleviate the smell not now, or even two days from now when my coat will still, no doubt smell like the cigarette I didn't smoke. Thank you very much.
6. Wet Dog- I love dogs. I love water. But dogs and water and enclosed spaces is quite the lethal combination. Thinking otherwise is just barking up the wrong tree.
7. Skunk- I once wrote a post about how a skunk must have died outside our house one night because the smell permeated the entire premises. I felt like I was in one of those horrible killer bee or bird movies only without the birds and bees. It was just this inexplicable, undeniable no way out feeling that washed over me. All that because a skunk is afraid. That stinks.
8. Morning breath- I don't care who you are or where you come from, your breath does not, I repeat, not smell good when you first wake up in the morning. And if you're sick, take that piece of advice and multiply it by ten. Now I just wish television and movie producers would be more aware of this simple fact. I like to escape reality as much as the next guy, but if I have to endure one more just woken up kissing scene I think I might barf.
9. Steam That Comes Out Of The Sewers in NYC- So maybe this smell is not exclusive to New York. All I know is that I don't smell it nearly as much in New Jersey. I think this is because NYC is a funkier city all together so it only makes sense their smells should be funkier, too. Perhaps it's just a city thing. All I know is that the smell almost always attacks you before you are about to injest something, like a hot dog parked at the stand right next door to that particular patch of grating. Nothng says "appetite lost" better.
10. Water Left Over From Flowers- This is a bittersweet way to make this post come full circle. You might remember earlier I picked freshly cut flowers as one of my scents of choice. But what Mother Nature doesn't tell you is that every flower must have it's day. And so after the flower unfortunately dies, the worst part, worse than the dying and disposal of the flower itself is getting rid of that nasty flower water that's left over in the vase. I don't know what it is. All I know is that flowers sitting in water for too long is the reason I don't buy more freshly cut flowers on my own.
I don't know how you feel about it, but just writing about those awful smells made me feel sick. I guess I should go bake some cookies or inhale some Right Guard. You know, just to take the edge off.
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