A year ago this week, The Scented Hound was born.  What started as an interest has turned into a wonderful passion that has grown and blossomed in the last year.  I can still recall buying my first niche perfume, Carner D600 from Min NY in the fall of last year and then finding all the other wonderful blogs and sites that gave me inspiration to jump in.  I can clearly remember too, that a couple other bloggers started their sites at the same time and I’m happy to say that Katherine from Mad Perfumista and Freddie from Smellythoughts are still running strong aside me with wonderful insight and commentary on their love of fragrance.

I have learned a lot in the last year and would like to share with a few thoughts on this first year of my endeavor:

• Blogging is fun, but it can be tough.  You go through spurts of creativity while at other times your creative juices just run dry.  I look back at some of my first posts and cringe at what I have written…and to be honest I still do that!  I wonder if other bloggers never feel satisfied with their posts?
• It’s easy to write reviews on perfumes that you love.  The words just flow.  Actually the same can be said for those fragrances that you hate too.  I don’t like criticizing anybody’s creation…but again, it’s just my opinion.  But the love and hate posts seem to generate the most views!
• You can’t keep up with all of the new launches.  This industry is constantly churning out new product and it’s impossible to keep up with it all.  So you have to search out those products which pique your interest and then continue searching out  established products that you want to sample and not worry about all of the new.
• My wallet suffers from too much love.  I have spent so much money on perfume this year, but as my wonderful husband said, “don’t worry about spending on your passion, at least you’re not passionate about cars…now that would cost some money.”  Note to perfumers:  If you offered more 30ml and 50ml product, I would spend even more money.
• I wish I had the mind of many of you out there.  I read and speak to people who can recall and compare and name off perfumes and ingredients and notes with detailed accuracy like people who can recall football game and player statistics.  That’s an art that I just don’t possess.
• I have sooooo much to learn about fragrance, which I guess makes sense since this endeavor is only 1-year-old.  I consider myself a novice.
• The best part of this whole experience is sharing and communicating with all the wonderful people in this community.  And without a doubt, this community is all about sharing and support…it truly is the number one thing that keeps me going with this blog.  Thank You!

And as a special thanks to you, my wonderful friends at Penny Lane Perfumes have offered as a draw, a 100ml bottle of E. Cordray Ambre et Vanille to one of my lucky readers.  Ambre et Vanille is a luscious vanilla wrapped up in amber which makes for a snuggly sweater for these cold winter nights.  The draw will be open until 11:59 pm Eastern Time, Wednesday, January 16, 2013 and is open to all US and non-US readers.  A winner will be drawn at random using random.org.  To enter in the draw, please check out  pennylaneperfumes.com and leave a comment on this post telling me what product from their stock you wished you owned or are curious about.  Or, if there is something in their stock that you already own and absolutely love, share that love in a comment.  Penny Lane Perfumes carries Amouage, Serge Lutens, Mona di Orio and many other wonderful brands.

But wait, there’s more (that sounds like an infomercial doesn’t it); for the first 50 people who make a purchase from their site, Penny Lane Perfumes will give you $25.00 off of your order.  All you have to do is put 2013 in the coupon box.  However, this offer is valid for US customers only as they currently do not ship overseas.  I am thinking that I may have to make a little purchase of Serge Luten’s Chergui myself!  I think my friends at Penny Lane Perfumes are pretty awesome, don’t you?!

In the end, thank you for all of your support.  I look forward the year ahead and the perfume experiences to come.  And since I’m a big boy now, I’m passing a bone to some new wonderful bloggers who are just starting out as pups, please check them out:  Kafkaesque, Scent Bound, The Other Scent.