Ingredient of the Moment

I've been into B Electro shower gel from Lush lately.  It is neon green and makes me smile.  I'm not a huge fan of the consistency of the gel but I do love the smell.

This morning, while showering, I finally isolated what it is about this product I love.

It's the scent of fennel.

Fennel is neat stuff.  Not only does it take good and smell nice, but it is also a natural heart burn cure

I turned to Etsy to see if there were fennelly soap options for me to consider.  Since it's Etsy, the answer is "of course."

Here are some highlights:

Dark Elf smells of green amber, exotic musk, carnations, sandalwood, spice, woody accords, patchouli, fennel and a touch of eucalyptus...yum. 

Solarmar Naturals in TN makes Geranium Fennel cold process soap.  According to the description, fennel clears the mind.  And heaven knows we could all use some mind clearing.

My personal favorite is The Olive Bar Sweet Fennel soap. 

Who knew a plant could be so refreshing...

Welcome to the world, Sydney!

It isn't often we make friends who last a lifetime.  I have been so very lucky to have several.  Some I didn't see for years and others I have been consistently in touch with since the day I matriculated out of Effingham County High School.

One of my longest standing and most beloved friends, Haley, has been with me through many adventures.  She was my accompanist (literally) and coached me through State Literary competition when I had tonsillitis and could barely make my vocal cords vibrate.

She listened to me yammer on when I had my first boyfriend...she was there when he turned out to be a total ass.  She was around my senior year when I fell madly in love with an amazing guy.  And she was likewise there when he and I broke up the day before I graduated.  Haley was always there.  She was always a friend. 

Haley is one the most incredible, supportive, intelligent and talented people I know.

And this weekend, Haley had a baby. 

It never ceases to make me pause when someone with whom I grew up creates life.  How are we even old enough to be married, much less having babies.

The time, it did fly.

But I know Haley will be the most incredible mother.  And I welcome Sydney to this world wholeheartedly.

Welcome, Sydney, you have an amazing mother and amazing people around you. 

Friends...who coming bearing soap

The nicest note I have gotten in a while...

I came in the door today to a shock.  I had a package from Etsian The Dirty Housewife Soap Co.  And I hadn't ordered anything.

So, imagine my surprise when I opened the package to find the following:

Moon Garden (Gardenia, white ginger and jasmine soap)

A Lollipop!

Summer Honey Fragrance

My friend Matt and I have been slightly estranged for awhile.  It wasn't by choice but by circumstance.  So he missed the time leading up the lap band surgery, the surgery itself and all of the surrounding angst.

But I never doubted that he was with me 100%.  So imagine my joy and tears at receiving such a gift.  And imagine the thrill of having my darling friend back.

I love you, Matt.  And I cannot thank you enough.

Where is the soap at Lush

Got another new hair color today...

I also popped into Lush, which is right around the corner from my salon, as I wanted to see what they had that is new.  This is a typically a massive money spending time for me as I find a million things I want to buy and end up walking out with a bag chock full of stuff I don't need.

Backing up a few weeks, my friend Heather sent me a BBM note stating that she had been to Lush and didn't find much she liked.  At the time, I was totally confused.  Now, I get it.

Lush seems to have no soap anymore.  Weird, right?

They have some old staples, like Honey, I Washed the Kids; Demon in the Dark; Bohemian; etc....but nothing really new and nothing really good.

Is Lush moving away from soaps and more in the direction of skin care?  Does anyone know?

I hope not!

And didn't it make me feel better?

Hey ya'll,

Well, it's Monday and I am back to work.  It isn't so bad, really, although this may be a very long week.  I didn't have any good QT with soap.  I need to do some hard core Etsy surfing to make myself feel better.  I am also looking forward to the Renegade Craft Fair, which I missed last year and do not intend to miss this year.

I might even swing by Lush sometime.

But, talk of soap aside, I had an interesting reaction to my blog of last week, "I am not broken."  It seems I am not the only one who feels the way I do.  Many of my friends, even the ones who have chosen to have GORGE families (best of luck, Haley...I cannot believe you are going to be a mommy), showed so much support and understanding.

Then, last night, a dear friend (when I thanked him for his support of the blog I wrote) asked me if I felt better after I wrote it.  And, I had to admit that the answer is yes.  I did feel better.  So, it got me thinking...Maybe I should keep the Soap Blog and get a Soapbox blog as well.

So, for what its worth, I am going to start a completely self serving, blog to wallow in the mire of my own opinions.  I will still talk about soap over here...but over there I will talk about other things.

I'm gonna do it anonymously because the language will be harsh and the topics harsher.  But, if you're interested, drop me an email at kennedy.rodriguez@gmail.com and I will give you the link.

Until then, happy soaping!

I am not broken

 Just a warning...this blog is not about soap.

A few years, I was told I would probably never have kids.  I won't go into the details but I had a few things stacked against me already and a final nail in the coffin of probability came out of nowhere and blindsided me.  At the time, all I cared about was being ok and getting through a surgery I didn't want to have.  But my doctor was kind enough to let me know that if some super sperm made it through stacked items 1-3 and I did miraculously get pregnant, my body would probably reject the pregnancy.

And you know what?  I didn't care. 

I was never a little girl who wanted a family.  I wanted to be a helicopter pilot, or President, or a Broadway star, or Secretary-General of UN.  I didn't want to be a mommy.  My mother later told me that she was the same.  She never really wanted children.  But she loved my father and he did want kids.  So she had us.  I think it goes without saying that I am glad she did. 

So, imagine my surprise when speaking to a  potential love interest (PLI)a few weeks back and the following conversation occurred while talking about the toll my job takes on my life:

PLI: I am not too interested in a family where my kids are raised by a nanny

Clean Diva: Oh, I don't want kids
PLI: hmmm...yeah, that would a pretty big deal breaker for me.  Well, I guess that is that...

So, I went on to apologize and explain that I thought I had made the fact clear before and that I am just not wired the way a mom should be.  And then PLI said:

"Well, I suppose if filling that gap with career advancement in retail fares better for you then more power to you."

The silence was deafening.  I wasn't sure which part of the statement was most offensive.  1.  That PLI had NO IDEA what I do although I had explained it in pretty great detail or 2.  The assumption that there is a gap left by not having kids.

I won't address the first because it is mostly irrelevant but I will say this (not to offend anyone, really) but

THERE IS NO GAP. 

Some of the most amazing women I know are mothers.  And even more of the amazing women I know will be mothers someday.  And I am so proud of them.  I have a god son who ALWAYS brings a smile to my face and I think Kingston Rossdale is beyond adorable.  But I don't want children.  There, I said it.  I don't WANT them. 

And I feel no gap, no ticking clock, no nesting desire, no lingering pangs for the smell of a clean baby.  None. Of. It.  I feel free and independent and thankful that I live in a time and place where I can make the decision to stay childless. 

And I am putting this out here, on the blog, today because I KNOW there are other women like me.  Women who realize that the first time they got passed over for a promotion because they had to leave daily at 4:30pm to pick up a kid from day care (and it happens...don't kid yourselves), they would resent that child for the remainder of its life.  Women who know that some of you are going to say that it changes when you create life and that we are going to roll our eyes on the inside because we know ourselves and we know that's not true for us.  Women who know they forget to feed themselves and could never support another person.  And yes, even women who just don't like kids...don't understand them and don't like to be around them.

I just want to acknowledge you today.  Because, just as I got unceremoniously dumped for feeling the way I do, I am aware that it happens to you too.  I know that, just like me, you have steadfastly held your ground and watched while people you love with all of your being leave you, marry someone and start a family of adorable little mini-me's.  And I know it hurts. 

And I want to remind all of my child bearing friends and readers that the next time you are tempted to feel sorry for someone because they don't know the domestic bliss you feel, save the sympathy for orphans in Uganda.  We're ok.  Really, we are.  And the truth is, we sometimes drink champagne in your honor at 2am before going to bed because we know you are asleep, exhausted from a day of child chasing, and have forgotten what champagne even tastes like.

You are not broken because you have kids and I'm not broken because I don't.  There is no gap.  There is no hole.  I am not trying to fill anything except the sales funnel at work (but that's another story for another day). 

But to you, former PLI...I wish you the best.  I hope you find what you seek.

But I also hope your future children have horrific motion sickness and projectile vomit on you each time you take a car trip.

Summer Scents

It's no secret I like strong scents.  Something about the way a scent comes off of someone's skin is the ultimate in sensuality for me.  I'll be G-rated since this posts to my Facebook but you all know what I mean. 

We've all had someone walk by us and turned to watch because they smell so good.  I once sat by a world leader (I won't disclose which one) and came away talking not about how smart he was or how amazed I was to be sharing space with him.  Rather, I could only state that he smelled better than any man I have ever met. 

I once was in love with a man I could never really have...and I can close my eyes and remember his scent to this day, although years have gone by since I last saw him. 

Maybe I am a glutton for the olfactory or maybe I am just human. 

But this leads me to a bit of a conundrum. 

I've got it a bit down at this point.  If I need to wake up, I reach for something smelling of clove, cinnamon, fennel or mint.  If I need to feel sexy, it is jasmine.  If I want to feel the sweet Southern girl (and sometimes I do) it is always gardenia.  Pear for a day with buddies and vanilla or lavender for for calming.  I could go on and on.

But I recently overheard someone talking about switching scents for summer.  Hmmm...are there appropriate summer scents versus winter scents.  Is the scent of jasmine that tends to cling to my skin too much for July?

I bellied up to my spot at the Bulgari counter to try Mon Jasmin Noir...the "perfect summer scent" for those of us who wear the mysterious, jasminey Jasmin Noir.  Ehm...it faded into my skin almost instantly.

I don't like to walk around in a cloud of scent like some kind of flowery Pigpen but I do like to catch a whiff of someone's perfume when they move.

So, the question is: Do you all change your scents in the summer?  Do you use different soap when its warm out?  Is it like white after Labor Day?  Or should we all shirk this notion and rock our fave scents regardless of the temps outside?

Happy Spring, all.