i have a new love...

i'm usually pretty sensitive to strong smells, specifically smelly lotions and bath stuff. stopping in at bath and body works usually has me walking out with a whopping migraine and sneezing all the way home. same with victoria's secret. all their "love" versions...ie love spell etc. now don't get me wrong. i love smelly lotions and body products. if they are the right kind. and when i find one i love, i usually stock up on it. because these two places have a tendency to discontinue everything i love. i used to love (many years ago!) one called 'spring' from victoria's secret. oh my. i couldn't get enough of that smell. i swear i bought all the lotion and bubble bath they had. then one day...poof...it was gone. i was so sad. i searched ebay trying to find more of the stuff. and then i finally ran out. i've done the same thing with MANY flavors from bath and body works. i usually go for the clean, non-fruity smells. i steer clear of almost all things fruity (except for one mango kind...it's not too bad). and anything vanilla?? forget it. that is the worst smell...i hate it.

so knowing all that...remember i an a nurse. we wash our hands hundreds of times a day. i should keep track one day, just to see how many times a day it is. anyway, back to my story...we are in the middle of winter (winter+dry cold air=bad dry cracked skin). and with winter comes respiratory illness. and with respiratory illness comes the dreaded "isolation". code for must wear gown, gloves and mask anytime you touch a patient. so if washing your hands a hundred times a day isn't bad enough, shove them into a hundred pairs of gloves...which i swear makes your hands worse. and i work usually with a bunch of women (and men, but not as many!). so with that in mind, there is usually a wide variety of lotions and creams floating around for your hands. i've seen this kind of lotion before. twisted peppermint from bath and body works. now usually i try and steer clear of any of the "holiday" smells like candy apple or vanilla bean noel, for reasons mentioned above. so i never thought much about the twisted peppermint. then a few weeks ago, my friend jamie was all excited to show me her bottle of this twisted peppermint business. she said it was so yummy. so i tried not to be scrooge and bah humbug her excitement and decided to try it. if it was awful, well, i would inevitably wash my hands 12 times in the next 30 minutes, so i figured why not. OH MY GOODNESS!!! was i floored. i loved the stuff. loved it!!! so much that i think i visited jamie's bedside about 20 times that afternoon just so i could mooch her lotion!! so much, in fact, that i stopped at the bath and body works that was on the way home, that night after work!!! of course, to my disappointment, it was dec 23 and they had zero of it anywhere. i was heartbroken!!! so the next day i had to call all the other 5 stores in and around my town, to see if i could score some. nope. "it's the day before christmas!" was what one kind person told me on the phone. well fine.

so i was sad for a few days, coming to the realization that i may have to wait until next christmas to see if they were going to have this in the stores again. all the time thinking to myself, that since i love it so much, they will discontinue it. like the always do with the flavors i love. but low and behold, what shows up in my inbox the day after christmas? the coveted "big semi-annual sale" email!! (cue heavenly angel singing here!) oh my happiness!! and what was on sale, you may ask? why the twisted peppermint line. for 50% off!! woo hoo!!! i ordered it like a mad woman!!! and it finally came yesterday. i'm such a happy girl. now i have a huge supply of this wondrous product to make me the happiest girl in all the land! or at least, enough to use until i get totally sick of it...then forget about it for 6 months and have it come out again next christmas!!!

ahhh...i have a new love. and it's red and white and full of pepperminty goodness (and yes, sadly, even the tiniest hint of vanilla!).