Uncategorized | The Scented Hound

December 7, 2015
by The Scented Hound 45 Comments

Mom

Mom and I on my first day home with my new family.

I know that this is supposed to be a perfume blog, but at times it also serves the writer as a cathartic release and topics can sometimes veer away from the perfumed-centric. This past Friday, my mother passed away. It was not unexpected as she has been battling congestive heart failure and her health rapidly deteriorated in the past few months. She was ready to go and was fully prepared and looking forward to the end as life it was becoming increasingly exhausting. At 87, she lived a good life. Of course, on such occasions, memories come flooding back. And it’s not always the big things in life that come to front, but instead those “slice of life” memories that will always live on. So here are just a few random thoughts and memories that make me smile:

Mom ironing while watching “Search for Tomorrow”
Mom’s cooking I loved: beef tongue (I can still hear the sizzle of the pressure cooker), her Christmas cookies (especially the Spritzes) and Swedish meatballs
Mom’s cooking I hated: lutefisk (the Scandinavian folks know what I am talking about), salmon souffle and chicken soup with dumplings
Getting yelled at not to walk on the kitchen floor as she just got done stripping and waxing it
Mom sitting under the Oster dryer at the kitchen table
Watching her get ready to go out…with clouds of Aqua Net wafting from the bathroom down the hallway
As a teenager, coming home late to find her sitting on the living room floor playing solitaire. The excuse was that she couldn’t sleep. She was just a Mom wanting to make sure her son got home OK.
Getting my mouth washed out with soap on several occasions due to my smart mouth
Giving me a quarter to buy warm and fresh treats from the Hostess factory next to our church
Her driving me back from weekly confirmation class and listening to WCCO radio
Mom making breakfast with the radio on and the daily ad…”Northwest Orient…airlines”
Being under 5 and waiting for her in the lobby of the hospital while she completed her candy striping duties. And afterwards getting a special treat of a chocolate milkshake at the hospital diner.
Waking up from getting my tonsils out to find her stroking my head and crying
Singing “It’s time to get up, it’s time to get up, it’s time to get up this morning…Rise and Shine” to get me out of bed
Helping her package up her Avon orders on the ping-pong table
Letting me decorate my bedroom with Snoopy decor
Liondy

Saving my favorite toy, Liondy, and giving it to me as an adult (I still have him!)

I was adopted at the age of a little over one month, and throughout my life I have been asked by many if I want to find my real mother. My answer has always been that I have no interest. I have a mother…a real mother. And as she always said to me….”your special because we chose you to be ours.” I’m glad they did. I love you Mom.

The following is a link to my mother’s obituary in the Fargo Forum.

November 27, 2015
by The Scented Hound 16 Comments

The Scented Hound Goes to Mexico…again!

The Scented Hound has finally returned from another trip to Mexico. In our quest to solidify retirement havens, we have found that Merida, Mexico keeps calling us back. This was our fourth visit and the one that solidified our resolve to turn our dreams into reality. No, we’re not moving yet; we have a good year and a half before we make the plunge. But we did decide this is the place for us. To help us make up our minds, we rented a house for 2 weeks without a car so that we could see more realistically what living in the city would be like. The visit included walks to the market, and the scouting of the various neighborhoods, as well as some house hunting to get an idea of what is available. It was a great trip which included making some wonderful new friends. Although it’s nice to be back home, we are looking forward to this coming new adventure in our lives. I’ll be getting back into the perfume realm quickly, but in the meantime, here are some pics that help capture a little of the spirit of Merida.

Independence Plaza

The Merida Cathedral

Museum of Popular Art

At the zoo!

Banos Jaguars at the Museum of Popular Art

Casa Perlita our home away from home.

Fresh tuberose!

Casa Perlita

Old colonial home

A new home – you can see how the homes can be fixed

Santiago church

At the zoo

September 28, 2015
by The Scented Hound 13 Comments

Open for Business: Arielle Shoshana Scented Luxuries

The Washington DC area is lucky enough to now have it’s own premier destination for niche perfume shopping. This past Saturday, Arielle Shoshana opened its doors for the first time and the Scented Hound wanted to experience the excitement of this new perfume hotspot.

Your proprieter, Ari!

The owner of Arielle Shoshana, Arielle Weinberg, better known as Ari from the Scents of Self perfume blog, worked hard to make this new venture a reality. Located in the very hip and happening Mosaic District in Fairfax County in northern Virginia, Arielle Shoshanna is the right fit for what has been missing from the DC perfume marketplace. The store is beautiful in its simplicity, but luxurious in its appointment. The perfumes are the stars of this new store and rightly so. And of course, when you enter the store, you’re greeted with the smiling face of Ari who lives, breathes and loves this industry and it clearly shows.

So what does one do when you go to a beautiful perfume store? You buy perfume of course. Since the better of half of the Scented Hound always complains that he gets my perfume hand-me-downs, Ari walked him through a multitude of perfumes that would fit his personal style and taste. And he walked away with a bottle of Atelier Cologne Cedre Enivrant. The man does have good taste! Of course it was hard to choose the right perfume, because Arielle Shoshana carries some incredible lines. Besides Atelier Cologne, they offer Maison Francis Kurkdjian, CB I Hate Perfume and even Neela Vermeire as well as many others! Thankfully, DC is not the only way to experience Arielle Shoshana, their lines can also be purchased through their website. I took some pictures while we visited,, but they don’t nearly capture the beauty of the store. If you’re in the area, please check them out. And next weekend is the official gala opening which means that party pics will be coming! Congratulations Ari!