My Favorite Scents & 10 Questions About School

Today I am combining two fun writing prompts for the week; Leslie's 10 on the 10th (which is all about back to school this month) and a fun new fall favorites link up with Emily & Sarah (which is all about our favorite scents this week).

My favorite fall scents all focus on food!  It may be a candle or a lotion or even scented lip balm but you'll see a very definite food theme-- pumpkin, cinnamon, apple, maple, caramel, brown sugar-- these are the scents that just scream fall to me.

My favorite lotion scents are the Dionis brand Warm Apple Pie & I just have a bit of their Caramel Pumpkin Spice (that doesn't seem to be available anymore!) left.



My boys and I often shop at the Yankee Candle flagship store in the fall and I pick out so many delicious smelling scents like:


I have these new candles I found at Michael's



How about you? What are some of your favorite fall scents?

Now onto this month's 10 on the 10th.  A few of these questions are similar to those I answered for last month's Monthly Musing but I think they're different enough that they're worth answering.


1.  What does back to school look like in your home this year? Alec started at a local high school that offers trades with culinary being one of them. He's spending the first 14 or so days in the building taking a different shop tour each day.  He then spends 2 weeks at home distance learning all his academic subjects (with a day or two in the building too).  In Oct he'll pick his favorite 3 shops and spend more time in each one before making his final decision.  The other two boys are homeschooling and so far we've been finishing up all our schoolwork by lunch.




2.  Does your state offer a back to school tax free weekend? If so do you plan back to school shopping around it? What kind of things do you buy? Our state does have a back to school tax free weekend but I rarely tend to buy anything during it.  Typically we don't need back to school supplies and this year we only bought Alec a backpack and lunchbox; both of which I ordered online. 

3.  Do your children wear school uniforms? If so what do they look like? If not is there a dress code in place? What are your thoughts on school uniforms?  Did you wear a uniform? Alec's school does have a uniform; each shop has their own but for this exploratory phase they just wear a polo shirt with pants or jeans (no holes/ rips), work boots, and safety glasses with their masks since it is 2020.  They have a different polo and can wear chino pants or chino shorts on academic days.  There is also a gym uniform. 



I love school uniforms as it makes getting dressed in the morning a quick and streamlined process. My boys have attended private school with uniform, public school without uniform, and then we've homeschooled where more often than not they wore pajamas (shown in the above picture of my youngest) and out of the three uniform came in second (nothing tops pjs!).  I too went to private school up until 3rd grade and wore a uniform. 

4. What did you want to be when you were growing up?  Did you plan to go to college? I don't really remember having one dream job for when I grew up.  I know at some point I wanted to be a wife, mother, teacher.  I did toy with the idea of becoming a fashion designer, interior designer, or art teacher when touring colleges.  I even made/ designed my prom dresses and a few outfits in high school. I'm not so much convinced I planned to go to college as it was just understood that I would. 


My husband and I at my junior prom


5. What sports did you play, what clubs were you in?  Were you a cheerleader? I played softball in elementary school but that's about it for sports.  I was on the yearbook committee, in both chorus and select chorus,  and involved in a few other clubs I can't really think of at the moment.  I was cheerleader starting when I was pretty small and then did that sporadically up through high school -- cheerleading for one basketball season.



6.  Did you buy lunch or take lunch?  If you took lunch from home, who made your lunch?  What was your favorite school lunch? I think I mostly took lunches from home and depending on how old I was either my mom made them or I made them.  If I bought lunch it would only have been on pizza day.  Though in high school we had the option to buy warm homemade pretzels and I think I ate that just about everyday mixed with one or two snacks from home.

7.  To what group or clique did you belong? Where did you fit in?  Were you in a sorority? The clique and circle of friends I had varied through the years.  I was part of the popular crowd in elementary school but they were pretty mean by middle and high school.  I did get along with everyone though and tended to move from group to group a lot. I did have a close group of friends by the end of high school that I felt comfortable being me with and that was fabulous.



8.  Did you spend much time in the library? What was your favorite class? I spent lots of time in the library and still do!  It was always so quiet and peaceful in there.  I had many favorite classes as I was a real good student that enjoyed learning-- I just often got in trouble for talking.  Usually any favorite subject depended on how well I got along with the teacher that was teaching it that particular year.

9.  What are some of your favorite high school memories? Homecoming? Prom? Have you returned for any class reunions? I have lots of great memories from events like school dances & proms as well as day to day things like helping out with the set design for the school play and participating in our select choir.  I have not been back for any class reunions though. 

10.  How old were you when you started school?  Did you have a favorite teacher? I was 5 when I started kindergarten. I had many favorite teachers along the way-- Mrs. Viens, Mr. Neal, Mrs. Wade, Mr. Peters (my chemistry teacher), Ms. Dunn, Mr. Sword, just to name a few. I'm pretty sure I was at least a few of their favorites as well. 



Linking Up With: Spread the Kindness, Lovin' Life









Comments

  1. Ok first of all, I got all of my pumpkin and fall candles out..they just smell the best! I also LOVED looking at all of your pictures growing up- just precious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you! I had lots of fun looking through them.

      Delete
  2. School memories are so poignant! And a vanilla candle is just about perfect for me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like food scents too. Cinnamon and apples! Great flashback pictures. I am excited to answer these questions this week too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fun trip down memory lane with your school pics! I graduated in 1989 so my hair was a wee bit bigger than yours in most pics.

    I love fall scents! I'm trying to use up the last of my beach/driftwood scent before embracing my pumpkin candles.

    Visiting from #happynowlinkup

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love the old school throw back photos of you. Thanks for sharing. I love Fall soaps a lot too. I haven't bought a Yankee candle in a long time. But their apple one is a favorite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hadn't bought any in years and year but once we went to the Yankee Candle flagship store my boys went nuts.

      Delete
  6. Yankee is one of my favorites, too! Thanks for linking up!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I didn't even think about food being an option for fall scents haha! I love that! Pumpkin baking is definitely one of my favorites.
    Sarah at MeetTheShaneyfelts

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the smell of vanilla, especially in the fall, and also cozy scents like cinnamon. It was fun to read about your school/your kids school experience too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. With that adorable smile you are bound to have melted the heart of all of your teachers. You were/are so cute!! So spunky!

    I was interested to learn you are/were talkative. I am talkative with those I feel comfortable with but was very quiet in school. Scared to even cough or sharpen my pencil.

    I get mixed up...is Alec your oldest? The school he is attending sounds perfect. Love that they allow for an exploratory phase so kids can sample different courses. Genius!

    You are quite the seamstress. Such pretty prom dresses. I toyed with being a fashion designer for about 5 minutes (although I don't sew a stitch) between graphic design and journalism. Neither of which was my final decision either! I needed a school like Alec's!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you! Yeah, I was quite the chatter box when I was younger and developed my shyness over time. By college I was pretty quiet.

      Alec is my middle son; so far he is really enjoying exploring all the shops but still insists that culinary is his all time favorite.

      Delete
  10. I loved going to the library in grade school. We didn't have much of one in my high school, but I still used the public library. I also had uniforms through high school and I liked it. Made it easier deciding what to wear. LOL

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our high school library was small too but It had a nice series of benches surrounded by big windows that overlooked a courtyard so I liked to sit there in the sun and read.

      Delete
  11. The scent of cinnamon is my favorite. Pumpkin, apple, caramel are amazing too. In all the photos you look happy, I think this is the most important thing!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Loved your school photos! I should have thought to include a few of those. Then again - maybe not:) Thanks for the suggestions for candles and the lotion. I love all the fall scents and love to try brands etc. Hope your boys have a great school year!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love all the pics, especially the cheer one! And so awesome that you went to Jr Prom with your now-husband!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, I like to joke he's always been my go to guy.

      Delete
  14. Lots to love in here. Would you believe I've never had (nor smelled) pumpkin pie? It's not a thing in Australia, although pumpkins are in season in autumn. Nor is homecoming or proms a thing. We do, however, have "formals" at the end of year 10 and year 12 which I think is much the same. That's what I love about blogging - the peeks into life on the other side of the world. #teamlovinlife

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I would think the formals would be the same thing as prom too; in the US many schools do call their proms the junior or senior formals (so year 11 & 12 for us). I actually do not like pumpkin pie itself just the smell of it.

      Delete
  15. So much to interest me, a career teacher and school principal...now well & truly retired. I like school uniforms for that fact that kids can't "be in competition" with outfits. Mind you, in Australia, purchasing a school uniform is a costly business and often the second hand shop at a school is well-used. Loved reading your post! Thank you for sharing. Denyse

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our old private school rain it's own second shop out of here but here in the US most schools are OK with a plain polo and chino pant in the school colors that we can typically buy almost anywhere. The high school this year does require us to buy the monogrammed shirts through the company but we can (and are encouraged) to get our pants/shorts elsewhere.

      Delete
  16. Joanne, that was such a post seeing all of your old photos! I love the junior prom picture! As for fall candle scents, I always like the warm and toasty food ones as well! We have a favorite that is Buttered Maple Syrup and it makes the whole house smell like fresh pancakes! Thanks for sharing and linking up.

    Shelbee
    www.shelbeeontheedge.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, that sounds delicious! We used to have a maple something or other from Yankee Candle and my husband asked me to stop putting it in the 1/2 bath downstairs because it was the first thing he smelled when coming into the house and he always thought we had made pancakes or waffles.

      Delete
  17. It's spring here, but I do love US fall scents. I think anything with cinnamon reminds me of a northern autumn/Christmas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! I just love cinnamon for fall & winter.... anything with cinnamon really.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Share Our Lives: 5 Items I Can't Live Without

Prime Purchases in February 2023

Let's Look At... Our Grocery haul