COMING UP FOR AIR

September has been an unusually bad month for blogging. It’s the start of the academic year, with its tasks and deadlines. The weather has been unusually warm and dry, so the orchids have needed more attention than usual, the needy little scoundrels. I’ve been waiting for a new batch of spray vials to arrive, so have a backlog of sample orders that I have to fill. I’ve been preparing to go to the Los Angeles Artisan Fragrance Salon, which takes place this coming Sunday, September 23, preparing sample sets, bottles, display materials, and press kits, packing and shipping them all, and trying to get the house in order for the house-sitter/orchid-sitter to come in for the weekend. Oh, and then there’s the fall theatre showcase that I have to work on. I still have to pack my clothes for LA, but that’s the easy part.

To top it all off, I’ve been working feverishly on a new fragrance that will debut in Los Angeles. As you might have guessed if you’ve been reading this blog, it’s the one with the “osmanthorchid” accord and the disappearing spikenard, finally to a point where it has a chosen version, a name, a label, and enough of it on hand to make some samples and fill a few orders. I’ve been writing press releases and descriptions, taking photos, and doing all of the stuff that I’m learning has to be done to publicize a new fragrance release. I feel like I’m in the last stages of labor, just about ready to push the product out and breathe a big sigh of relief. This fragrance was made faster than I usually work, so it was a little stressful all along the way. However, it was a wonderful and unique concept that I enjoyed working on from start to finish. It’s my understanding that the full story and details about the fragrance will come out this Friday, September 21, on Cafleurebon, along with a drawing – perfect timing if ever there was such a thing.

I’ve stopped promising anything any more. Instead, I just give probabilities that I’ll be able to do things. I’d say there’s about a 75% chance that I’ll be back to blogging more regularly after I get back from LA. 

[Diving birds drawing and Santa Monica palm photo from Wikimedia]