April was a frenzy of deadlines (editing and writing and lecture preparation) for me, but I did manage to appreciate some of the sunny, picture-perfect spring days that unexpectedly dropped down on NYC. I even spend “met” the woodcocks who hung out in Bryant Park for a week or two and bopped around under flowering trees right there in the heart of Manhattan.

Let’s see, what else…

Reading: A few months ago, a neighbor moved away and put a stack of novels on his stoop. I’m still working my way through the ones I grabbed. Most recently: Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake.

Art: Art x Fashion at the Museum at FIT. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: FIT’s exhibitions are smart, focused, and accessible, not to mention free to the public. They also consistently inspire me in a way that some bigger, flashier exhibitions do not.

Video: In a pointless personal protest against the new video adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, I’m re-watching the 2002-2003 tv adaptation (Damien Lewis, Rupert Graves, Gina McKee). It’s even better than I’d remembered.

Drinks: Chamomile tea, more than usual. The best Manhattan I’ve ever had, on a celebratory night out with J. at Madison 550.

(Tr)eats: Sometimes I’m just really glad to have not just one, but two, family-owned Italian red-sauce joints in the neighborhood.

Beauty Products: I’m trying to use up some almost-empty hair products in my stash before I buy anything new: R+Co Ring Tone Curl-Defining Gel, Ouidad Climate Control Gel, TresSemme One Step Wave Spray. I’ve learned that everything works better for me if I apply my beloved RŌZ Milk Hair Serum first.

Fragrances: Really enjoying a sample set from Eau de Boujee and some semi-recent releases from Odette, especially Lapinou. And I’ve been deep in some recreated/re-released 1890s-1900s fragrances, for a lecture (see below) and Guerlain Après L’Ondée is still my favorite from that era.

Garb: I’m trying to discard a few things rather than acquire new ones right now, but I did get a new little black blouse/jacket from GU/Uniqlo that will work well for gallery tours, etc. Oh, and the micro-trend of CBK-style hairbands reminded me that I own a few non-CBK hairbands so I’ve been pulling those out again.

Pleasures: Delivering a fragrance lecture/presentation in a beautiful Gilded Age drawing room at the Cooper Hewitt/Smithsonian Design Museum. I’m so grateful to everyone who bought up those tickets so fast and attended the event! Thank you for being there.

Up Next: Looping back to a few freelance projects that I had to push to the proverbial back burner for a bit. Going to the farmers market on Sundays. Doing a few day-trips out of NYC while the weather is nice. Visiting a few fragrance boutiques in person; it’s been a while, ironically!

What have you been up to lately?

Image: Bernard Sleigh, April from The Faery Calendar, 1920. Victoria & Albert Museum, London.