Can't You Smell That Smell?

I've always had a very keen sense of smell. Walking by the perfume counters in department stores is something I try my best to avoid. It's way too overwhelming for my sensitive nose. 

Back in the day, when my thick hair was down to my waist and I had perms put in it (which took HOURS) I nearly sent my hairstylist into panic mode once because the smell was so overwhelming to me I nearly passed out on the floor. She always seemed nervous to give me one after that, giving me a cloth to keep over my face and asking if I was okay every five minutes. I know she just loved seeing me and all my hair coming through the front door for a new perm. 

And don't even get me started on cigarette smoke or ammonia, or the fact that I was never able to stop gagging over the boys' poopy diapers although my mother said I'd get used to it. I didn't.  But wait, this is supposed to be about smells that I love and there are plenty of those too. 

Here are the first 10 FANTASTIC SMELLS that come to my mind... 

1. Lavender. When the boys were babies I used to bathe them with Johnson & Johnson Bedtime Lavender-Scented Bath Wash which now makes my heart ache a little to think about since the baby days around here are a long gone thing of the past. Sigh. 

I recently discovered Trader Joe's Spa Lavender Hand & Body Lotion and I am completely addicted. If you haven't tried it, you really should.

2. Honeysuckle. The real thing. Catching a whiff of wild honeysuckles never fails to take me back to the summers of my childhood. They grew at the edge of the woods in our neighborhood and my best friend, Jennifer, and I spent many a late summer afternoon seeing just how much sweet dew we could manage to squeeze out of those tiny blooms.

3. Doggie Paws. Don't mind me, I'm just sniffing my dog's paws. I can't really explain this one. I just like the smell of doggie paws. Call me weird.

4. Books. Old books, new books...I just love the smell of books.

5. Shoe Stores. I can't help but inhale deeply when I walk into a shoe store. I love shoes like the Cookie Monster loves cookies.

6. Chocolate. But I like tasting it better.

7. Coffee Brewing. I loved this smell years before I ever loved drinking it (which I now love very much by the way) and I've heard many people say they still love to smell it even though they never acquired a taste for it. What is it about this smell? 

8. Movie Theaters. It's the popcorn, of course. We went to the movies Friday night (the first time in I can't remember when) to see Oz the Great and Powerful and although I told myself I was not going to have any popcorn, I caved the minute we walked through the door and that heavenly smell enveloped me. Gets me every time.

9. Play-Doh. And just like every other person who grew up in the free world, I tasted it (more than once, just to be sure). This smell is a liar. But I still love it.

10. Rosemary. LOVE it. I bought a Rosemary plant last summer and kept it in a pot in the sunroom. I couldn't walk past it without burying my nose in it. I'm not known for my green thumb, however, so it didn't make it through the winter.