Neighbourhood Cornucopia

The picture above is pretty much the daily sight in my building. The windowsill leading to the elevator and staircase is our unofficial "fleamarket corner" or rather "decluttering shelf". Years ago, a guy who lives in one of the rooftop apartments put a handful of things there with a note saying that he'd take care of removing any items that were still there after a week. There weren't any. Ever since then, it has become the space to drop the things you don't want/need anymore and then take a bet if they are still there when you walk past the next time. With one exception, I've only been an avid contributor, not a "taker" (the notebooks above were mine...the animal print bathing suit was NOT) and it's a great feeling that you had something somebody else wanted and didn't have to throw it away or put an ad on any classified site. Do you have a similar space where you live? If not, you should definitely initiate one!

We Don't Have to

Highflyer and I have been together for almost 6 months now and have had plenty of opportunity to check one another for compatibility on many different levels. We have even spent a whole week together, day and night, so passed the "vacation test" with flying colours. We soon realised that we have different ideas about how and where we want to live. While he resides in a semi-detached house with a tiny garden in suburbia, I live in a medium-sized flat without any outdoor space on a busy street in a central-ish area of Vienna. Although I would not mind a rooftop terrace, I am very happy about leading an urban life and having to commute to work by car is one of my nightmares. Even though we have spent 90% of our time together at my place, Highflyer would not want to swap his house for a city flat and I would not dream of making him do so. I told him recently that I am actually very content with this situation because I liked having two different spaces and looking forward to seeing one another without having to compromise. He agreed and said that the best thing about it was that there's nothing to force us to compromise out of financial or other considerations. We each like our personal space that we chose according to our personal preferences and we don't have to make any sacrifices. Sometimes, being a middle-aged (!) adult does have perks...

Scented

Everyone who has ever shared a bed with me in any sort of capacity knows of my mildly weird habit. I sleep with something to sniff at while I fall asleep.  Ideally, this is the skin of my loved one, but if he's not there, a t-shirt smelling of him will do the job. When I was single, I used to spray a tiny handkerchief or mini souvenir towel with a (male) scent I really liked.  This started when I was a child and discovered I found the smell of a fresh laundry calming.

Overall, I have a rather well-tuned sense of smell and have been known to surprise people by guessing their perfume right. Once it's in my "archive" I remember it. This also works for not-so-pleasant smells and I can detect the slightest hint of mould (on a piece of fruit for example) as soon as I open my front door.

Smells can trigger very strong emotions in me and I seriously could not date someone whose smell I don't 100% love even if he happens to be the most gorgeous looking human being on earth.

Last winter, Chiquita gifted me the small version of the candle pictured above. It does not smell of weed (a scent I find disgusting at best) even if the name suggests it. It is one of the most pleasant home scents I can imagine and since it is a limited Christmas edition I was sad I could not repurchase it. When I got the full-size candle for my birthday, I was thrilled and its scent makes me feel all warm and cosy. Mmmmhmmmmmmmm.

Wishful thinking

Until last year, most of my birthday cards contained a message along the lines of "May all your wishes come true" and/or "Who knows, maybe Prince Charming is in the cards for you this year!". I am not complaining about it as I am guilty as charged and have wished my single friends similar things many times.

This year, most of my friends wished me that "may you be always as happy as you are right now" which exactly reflects my own sentiments and wishes for myself. 

I guess this means that the combined power of birthday cards past worked: my wishes did come true and I did meet my Prince Charming who continues to impress me the better I get to know him. 

Sometimes I would just like to have a little peek into the (hopefully very distant) future when I will have taken off my rose-tinted glasses and grown tired of him or annoyed with him just a little bit. I'm curious when and if this will be the case as right now, I seriously can't imagine it.