Aromatherapy. Seamus Heaney. Friday giveaway.

Something that you don't know about me is that I love fragrance. I love perfume and candles and aromatherapy. I used to work at Pier 1 Imports. I would start my shift by putting a few votives in my pocket that I liked the smell of. When customers would walk in, I would greet them and ask them to smell the candles. I used to sell so many candles that way. I think we forget about fragrance and how important the sense of smell is to us. Did you know that in your brain, the place that registers memories is in the closest proximity to the place where we process our sense of smell. That is why smells are so powerful to us. Marcel Proust tastes (I'm going to use smell and taste interchangeably here, because to me, they are the same) the petite Madeline and is taken back to a time when he was a young man and we get Swann's Way (the first book in Remembrances of Things Past, anyone?)... I'm feeling a little bit literary today.

I mentioned that my mother-in-law is going to have hip replacement surgery next week. I wanted to make her some aromatherapy bags that could be used as hot/cold packs for her hip. Once I started, I couldn't stop:

aromatherapy hot/cold bags and pocket sachets

The large bag is for my MIL. The small, purple bag is for my daughter because she loved it. The small bags are something that I love - pocket sachets. They are a little pick-me-up that you can also use as a hand warmer - just pop it in the microwave for 30 sec. They also work well in your drawers or in your purse.

A few years ago, I was obsessed with the scent of eucalyptus. I used to put drops of eucalyptus oil onto a tissue and walk around smelling it. The scent was uplifting and relaxing and just wonderful. I'm going to be making up a whole mess of these pocket sachets in different scents. But before I do, I'm giving away a larger hand warmer/sachet in your choice of: peppermint, spearmint, lavender or eucalyptus (eucalyptus mint is also nice). Just leave a comment on this post and you will be entered to win. I'll choose a winner with help from Mr. Random next Wednesday, September 3. May the odds be ever in your favor.

In other news, Seamus Heaney died. He was an Irish poet - the poet of Soil and Strife. Some girl in my post-grad Chaucer class would just use his name to answer questions. I hadn't thought of him in a long time. I remember coming home and asking my husband if he knew the name since I had never heard of him before that and it was pre-google - I actually had to go to the library to find out who Seamus Haney was. Crazy. I'm old. Anyway. Happy Friday. Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts.