Whenever I smell fried chicken …
Jan 23rd 2008
Karen RoseOn Writing!
I was in the grocery store yesterday and the deli had fried chicken sizzling. And I smiled, not because I ate any of the fried chicken (don’t I wish!), but because whenever I smell fried chicken, I think of my MaMaw Rose. She always seemed to be in the kitchen and she knew I loved my fried chicken. Every time I’d come to visit, she’d fry me up a panful. Her biscuits were killer, too. This makes me smile.
Whenever I hear a Beatles song, I remember my oldest at one and half, “dancing” to Can’t Buy Me Love. It’s one of my most darling memories.
Whenever I see a photo of the US Capitol at night, I remember the night my husband proposed. It was my nineteeth birthday and 
I wore the lacy white dress I’d worn to my high school graduation the year before. It was still hot on a July evening, and he’d walked me up the stairs to the Senate side. We’d both grown up in the MD burbs of DC and we’d done much of our dating in the museums downtown. We drove by the Capitol pretty often, so I think DH picked that spot on purpose, so we’d have something sweet to remember.
Whenever I taste granola, I remember how my mom tried to make us eat wheat germ in the 70’s. Ew. Not one of my better memories, LOL. She even put it in chocolate milkshakes. But her intentions were good! When I smell rye bread, I always remember the chemistry lab in college where we distilled caraway seeds into carvone and I smelled like rye bread for DAYS. I have not eaten rye bread since, and that was 25 years ago. Some sensory memories are locked in for good! (or bad as it were).
What stimulation of your senses evokes a memory, good or bad? Have you or anyone else ever set up a major event so that a smell or a taste would make you remember?
91 Comments »
91 Responses to “Whenever I smell fried chicken …”
Ellen on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:45 am #
Whenever I hear the song “I’m Every Woman” I think of being nine months pregnant on a 101 degree day in late August. What cracks me up, is that for some reason, I consider that to be a GOOD memory.
And
I love the smell of Doll Head. Swear to Gawd, it’s a smell that brings me instantly back to Christmas Morning.
Lisa H on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:49 am #
Whenever I hear “Waiting for a Girl Like You” by Foreigner, I remeber dancing with a special boyfriend at a Valentine’s dance many years ago.
Whenever I smell Oil of Olay I think of my Grandma sitting at her vanity putting on her creams and make-up.
When I smell Musk cologne, I think of my Dad and how his pillow used to smell. (He now wears some colonge I HATE, but my Mom likes it , so there it is!)
Whenever I hear a song from “Phantom of the Opera” I remember when my husband and I went to see it and how wonderful we thought it was.
Karen R- I have never had home-made fried chicken…I bet it was wonderful!
Barbara Vey on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:53 am #
Whenever I smell fresh bakery, I think of my grandma who would tell us that day old bakery only has half the calories. And we believed her!! I miss my grandma.
ilovetoread on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:56 am #
Old Spice aftershave and cologne reminds me of when I was much younger and I would watch my dad shave on early Saturday mornings.
Pipe tobacco will forever bring back memories of a paternal grandfather. We had standing “dates” on Friday nights to watch his westerns together and I always tried to go to his farm on Saturdays and be with him.
The smell of baking sugar cookies will always remind me of my mother and me baking many dozens of sugar cookies and decorating them to sell for Girl Scouts fundraisers one Christmas!!
Anytime I hear Journey (or lead singer Steve Perry), Van Halen, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, I have very distinct memories, and a few naughty ones, of my dates and engagement period with my husband.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:05 am #
Ellen, I know the smell of Doll Head, LOL. It’s one of those definable smells like New Car.
Lisa H - NEVER have you had home-made fried chicken? How sad. I’d offer to make you some someday, but I’m a lousy cook. MaMaw Rose taught me the crochet, but not the chicken.
Hi Barbara - good to see you
And broken cookies only have half the calories, too.
Lovetoread - weren’t those songs the best? And pipe tobacco is one of those unique smells I love even though I don’t like smoke in general.
Our song was Lionel Ritchie’s “Truly.” I still melt at that one, all these years later.
cail on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:06 am #
pipe tobacco reminds me of my childhood- dad smoked one
different cereals remind me of different stages of my life, since i’ve rotated through a whole bunch for my morning breakfast
there are quite a few that i can’t think of right now, but nearly every smell reminds me of something. songs don’t really do the same thing for me, and nor do places, but smells and tastes really bring me back.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:07 am #
They say that smells are the first memories most people have. I’m not sure how they know that.
At any rate, using the sense of smell is a powerful way to make a scene very real. Just think of the scenes these sensory memories recalled. If you’re one of our writer goddesses, don’t forget about the sense of smell!
Emmiebee on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:26 am #
Wow, I’m not surprised how many people associate smells with heart-lifting memories. They seem to just permeate our brains at the time without our notice, only to bring back detailed and powerful memories in a lightning flash even years later. I love this- it’s like I get a wonderful, spine-tingling gift when I least expect it. The smell of Caesar’s Woman perfume brings an instant cascade of childhood memories with Mom- I often have to run home and call her or e-mail her if I smell it, just to link those great memories with today! The smell of the ocean is vital to me, as well. If I do not walk in sea water to “recharge my batteries” at least every 3-4 months, I get depressed. This leads to freezing trips to a New England beach in Feb., but a quick set of deep breaths of sea air and a toe-touch to the water are all I need. Happy smelling, everyone- I’m off to make some breakfast and evoke happy memories of maple syrup!
-Emmiebee
Lisa H on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:31 am #
Ilovetoread - Yes! Those are the bands that evoke memories for me as well - happy ones and naughty ones!
Ellen - You are every woman to me! LOL!
Lisa H on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:32 am #
Ellen I too was 9 months pregnant in 101 degrees in August. The year was 1993 and I swear it was the hottest summer ever!
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:40 am #
I was also pregnant in Augusut, 100 hellish humid degrees in ‘94. I’d just turned 30 and later my pals told me that were terrified to do anything involving black balloons. The scowl on my face every day of that last hellish month sent them all scampering for cover. Ha, I’d forgotten about that.
Malady on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:42 am #
hearing a “mambo” christmas song brings back memories of reading early chrissie presents. reading certian books bring back what i could hear when i first read them. Fantales and tomatoes make me remember my Pa Pa and chest hair with gold bling my father. all things remind me of my Mother. Hippos my Aunt. cornchips, my highschool crush. cream carpet and byzance IS the essence of Ma Ma. even if she wears poem now. Memories are what make a person them. I feel sad for Amnesiacs think of what their missing.
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:43 am #
Smell and sound stimulate my senses the most for a memory. My senses don’t descriminate, they give me the good and the bad memories.
Sound: REO Speedwagon-Can’t Fight This Feeling takes me back to 2 places. The first one is elementary school. The principals last name was Shipman so very time I heard that song I thought of her and how cool it was to have her name in a song on the radio. To this day it still happens,
The second place is a garage that my dad was fixing a car in like 20 years ago. He had and REO Speedwagon casette and would listen to it in that garage while working on the car. I can still see the radio on the work bench.
Wide Open Spaces by Dixie Chicks is another song for me. When I left Michigan for Florida this song was big and described my leaving. On the way out of town we stopped at WalMart and I picked up the CD single (back when they still sold them) of this song and listened to it “often” on the 24 hour trip to FLA.
Smells: (Con’t)
Malady on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:44 am #
Black Balloons? i always have black balloons at my parties. is black any significant with age?
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:48 am #
How about a few “intangible” smells to get you going:
-morning
-coming snow
One I love is the smell of coffee grinding. I’ll always think of DH.
The sound of a soda pop can being popped. Again, DH.
Cail - I know what you mean about cereals marking times of your life. I loved Lucky Charms as a kid (still do), but when I eat it now, I think of snack time when I was a little girl. My mom would let us pick a cereal when we went grocery shopping and after she’d put the groceries away, she’d let us have it for a before-bed snack. I think it was the only time I could be sure there was no wheat germ in my food, LOL.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:50 am #
Oh yes, Malady - you have black balloons at 30, 40, and 50. The “big ones.” You know, Lordy, Lordy, Karen’s 40.
Oh to hear those sweet words again…
Snicker.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:53 am #
Kari - for me it’s my dad fixing a car in the garage whenever I see a bright yellow VW Beetle. He had a white one and went to paint it when it rusted, but he is very color blind and picked the wrong color yellow - it wasn’t the light yellow my mom had chosen, but CANARY. Like you had to blink at the sun. My mother refused to ride in it, ha.
I can still remember him bent over the back engine of that bright yellow Bug.
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:53 am #
Smell:Sun-Kissed Plumeria body lotion. When I was pregnant I would rub it on my belly every night. I still have some and when I put it on I am taken back to laying on my bed, 8 months pregnant watching Will and Grace. I still have the belly, just not the kid inside it. He is 4.
Taste:Rhubarb-ALWAYS go back to the family cabin in summer and Great Grandma C’s homemade rhubarb pie. OMG you can’t buy that kind of good.
I’m still thinking about the sight and touch……
Lisa H on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:56 am #
Karen R - aren’t you only 29? I’m agast.
I forgot the smell of snow. I LOOOOVE that smell, whenever I smell it I start singing, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” Most people here in NY don’t share my sentiment, and are not amused!
Malady on 23 Jan 2008 at 8:57 am #
lol my favourite cereal is one i am allergic too. i can remember getting up and actually enjoyng breakfast. then the doctors said i wasnt to eat it. i was 5 or 6. i still miss my wheat bix. they are more patriotic than i am. almost as patriotic as vegemite. mmm vegemite. theres a memory. On yr 7 camp we had to make a talent show. she was performing a vegemite commercial. she was all set too waer it as a face pack, when i told her it would burn her skin horribly. it wont. it just stings alot, and leaves red marks. a rich source of vitamin B and a laugh.
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:08 am #
For sight one specific thing doesn’t pop out but looking at pictures will definatly do it. It’s like a time warp and I’m instantly taken back to that time and place with the dorky clothes and bad hair. It’s great.
There is no safe way to venture into the touch/to be touched catagory.
SuzyQ on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:10 am #
The smell of a turkey always reminds me of my mom in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day.
Charcoal always brings me back to summer days and my Dad barbecuing in the back yard. My friends and I would light punks from the glowing embers and wave them around making designs in the air.
You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC brings back cruising memories. We lip-synched to that song.
Unforgettable by Nat King Cole reminds me of my DH.
Fresh kielbasa (not the supermarket brands like Hillshire) brings back memories of chemo. Not a good memory. My dad always took me into NY for my treatments and more than once he would stop and pick up kielbasa from a nearby Polish deli. To this day, the smell makes me nauseous. Some hospitals smells have the same effect.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:16 am #
SuzyQ - the smell of “hospital” is a powerful one. DH went through chemo when our oldest was a few months old and couldn’t set foot in a hospital after that. He was honestly worried that he might not be able to make it through the birth of our second child. To which I replied, (remembering it was August and hellishly hot and I’d just turned thirty), “You will be there. If I have to tie you up and drag you over my shoulder, you will be there. If you can’t stand the smell, clothes-pin your nose, just don’t even consider not being there.” This was accompanied by my very best and most threatening scowl.
He was there.
And he can do hospitals now, so it was a win-win
DebMarlowe on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:18 am #
Love the sensory memory triggers!
Old Spice==my Grandpa, even to this day. Love that smell because it means unconditional love
Elton John–ruined for me. Worst date ever. Horror stories. Ugh. And I used to love him.
Journey==long bus rides home from school and teenage longing for the boy who might have been important in my life
The smell of coffee with the slightest cigarette twang==my Grandma. I don’t drink coffee or smoke, or even particularly like either of those smells, but I loved my Grandma so incredibly much, and still think of her often.
Ben-Gay–my Great Grandma, who used it every day I knew her (until I was in college)
Chlorine==happy summers growing up when we practically lived in the pool
On the Wings of Love==my first slow dance with my dh and the only truly paranormal moment of my life
What fun!
doglady on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:22 am #
Smells can be very powerful things. My Dane, Glory had a very distinctive smell. I didn’t wash her pillows or her collar and leash. When I miss her I hug her pillow and think of her. My cat, Rebecca, whom Glory raised, will walk by the leash hook where Glory’s leash and collar still hangs with everyone else’s and she will rub against the leash and collar and purr.
When I smell Sand and Sable I think of my MawMaw Jones. She always wore that. My Nana Bolton wore Emeraud and it always makes me think of her.
I wore White Shoulders when my DH and I dated and all thru our marriage. After he died I never wore it again. So when I smell it I think of him because he loved that scent.
Chicken and dumplings are my Mom. And Lane Cake.
Motor oil and grease are my Dad - he was a fighter jet mechanic and then a car mechanic after he retired from the military.
Salt n vinegar chips make me think of England because that is the first place I ate them. Cadbury’s chocolate and Turkish delight too.
Freedom Writer on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:46 am #
Thick cigarette smoke reminds me of my family getting together for cocktails at my Nana’s house almost every night. The family would flap their jaws, smoke, drink, sing and have a really good time. I brothers would leave their lettermen jackets outside so that they didn’t smell like cigarette smoke. I have never been a smoker, only drink a little on special occasions, and my voice is more of a croak now, but I still love to flap my jaws.
Doglady: My Nana also wore Emeraud.
Cold As Ice by Foreigner makes me think of one of best friend’s ex-boyfriend who kissed me. My friend got pretty upset when she found out since she was still hung up on the guy.
Aloe & Lanolin body lotion reminds me of Spring Break in Florida. When I used it to keep my sunburn from turning into alligator skin. That was one good spring break.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:13 am #
Funny, I don’t remember perfume smells. Just food. Oh, dear.
SnikWhite on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:20 am #
Talk about nostalgia the last two days ladies! Whenever I smell aloe, I remember when my mom got windburn on a sailing trip and we had to tear apart all the aloe we could find to put in a bath for her.
When I smell baby magic lotion, I remember the first day i brought my little girl home from the hospital and she was asleep on my chest. I laid there with my eyes closed, her little hands wrapped around my finger and the moment i realized that THIS is what my mom meant when she said “you’ll understand when you have your own kids”
AND finally, EVERY time I smell horse poo, I think of when KariE was riding in rodeo and we went up to Alpena for State Finals. LOL I will NEVER forget the laughs we had that night with Marty HAHAHA seriously.
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:26 am #
Sniky-I’m so glad that when you smell horse poo you think of me. When I smell garlic I think of you!!! I remember “cricket, cricket” LOL good times!!
SuzyQ on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:30 am #
LOL Karen! Never argue with a pregnant woman in 100+ degree weather!
Karen Hawkins on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:37 am #
Ohhh! I like this game!
I was pregnant in August, too! Both of my kids were born on 9/11, so needless to say, after the Ugly 9/11 Day, we avoided the television on their birthday. One of their friends suggested it was inappropriate that they celebrated their birthday on that day, to which I replied, “GOOD things happened on that day, too, and I refuse to give it up to the bad guys. We are going to celebrate and celebrate BIG.” And we did.
Grrrr! Do you hear my Mothering Instinct jumping to the fore?
When I smell apple pie, it makes me think of my grandmother’s house. She is an incredible cook and I never eat anything there that doesn’t always taste PERFECT. She just has that touch.
And whenever I hear anything by Loverboy, it takes me back to high school and college and how I rode around with my best friend in her Camaro, looking for trouble. Good times!
SnikWhite on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:38 am #
Awww Kari! That brings a little tear to my eye, oh wait, no, that was just from laughing haha cricket cricket will live on for-evah! well so long as we’re still lucid. I figure when we’re 90 and living next door to each other with our lawn full of crazy lawn ornaments we might have forgotten
SnikWhite on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:46 am #
I am one of those people who literally has a song for almost every memory, and while I could go on for hours when it comes with song related memories, there are a few highlights:
Jesse James/Cher: Kari came to Illinois for our 5th high school reunion. We took the road trip to Michigan and she made a mixed tape. I remember singing this song at the TOP of our lungs as we drove through Chicago and feeling grateful that the “dark years” were finally over.
Bad Day/Daniel Powter: My ex husband and I had “the talk” and finalized the decision for the divorce. I was calm, and just walked out to the living room, where I hear this song playing on my laptop. I laughed…long and hard then called my friend to come and get me.
Crash/Dave Matthews: I gave my whole heart to one man since my divorce and this was our song. Now that we’re not together, if I hear this song, I am back in his car driving down Bull Run Rd. Someday this will be a happy memory instead of one that makes me choke lol
Kim on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:50 am #
KarenH–Good for you! The nerve of some people.
I can’t think of any smells that make me remember anything. Mostly for me its songs.
The entire Poison tape, can’t remember the title but it had Talk Dirty to Me on it, that brings to mind a marathon make-out season
You Were Always on My Mind–always makes me cry. It makes me think of my dad and regrets.
Angel by Aerosmith–puts me in a fury after 20 years. It was my husband and his ex-girlfriends song. grrrr!
She’s Got it All by Kenny Chesney–makes my heart swell and think of my son because he is everything to me.
Seeing a pinic table always brings a smile to my face. GOOOOD memories of a certain pinic table
Oh, just thought of a smell. Leather makes me think of dead people.
Kim on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:51 am #
For those who asked yesterday the Milky Way Cake recipe is up on the Forum, under the Off Mt Oly forum. enjoy!
Malady on 23 Jan 2008 at 11:02 am #
what does everyone makes up the smell of Dawn. i think it would be gum trees, petrol fumes, fresh dirt and Ozone. and lately, electrical appliances.
Malady on 23 Jan 2008 at 11:03 am #
oh look it just hit 3am. no wonder i make so little sense.
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 11:11 am #
Kim, why does leather make you think of dead people??
amy1242 on 23 Jan 2008 at 11:17 am #
Woodsmoke, up at the cabin by the lake, before kids and now with kids, good memories. White Shoulders perfume, pregnant with the twins, a girl at work used to wear it and to this day still makes me think I’m going to toss my cookies. I too, was pregnant in August in 100+ temps. Even the smell of apples made me sick back then, now…not so much. I also love the smell of horses and hay, brings a smile to my face even on the worst of days.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 11:22 am #
Yes, Kim, inquiring minds must know! Leather does not equal dead people in my mind, so I’m curious on this one.
Karen H, both your kids born on the same day? How convenient in some ways - did they ever wish they had different birthdays? And I second Kim - the nerve of some people, wanting you to abandon the hope of a birthday. Good for you.
The one that always makes me cry is Through the Years by Kenny Rogers. I saw him sing it in concert and bawled like a baby.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 11:24 am #
Oh, sauerkraut, my bane! My husband made it when I was pregnant with #1 child and to this day I cannot stand the smell. Ewwww. The German pavilion at Epcot is no fun, except that’s where they have the yummy gingerbread men, so I hold my nose, buy the gingerbread and make a run for Italy where I eat it so I don’t have to smell the sauerkraut.
Ew.
Mia Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 11:37 am #
Hmmm… I try to avoid being outside in the snow, therefore I don’t have a clue what it smells like or if I like it, but my favoritest smell ever is hot rain. I LOVE hot rain. The way it smells, the way it feels… the way you can run around in it like you’re a kid again and not catch a cold.
Tortillas make me remember my Grammo (my great-great)… she used to make them from scratch, homemade.
David Bowie will forever make me think of one of my favorite childhood movies ‘Labyrinth’
‘Ain’t That a Kick in the Head’ by Dino will forever make me remember my wedding… that was the song I chose to play as we were cutting the cake and I danced instead of cutting. (those are some great pics)
And let’s see… the smell of Vodka will always make me sick. Forever.
My sisters and I are all going to Garth Brooks this weekend, so maybe that will be a future memory attached to Garth.
I’ve never ’set up’ a major event for sensory recollection, but it’s a good idea and I just might sometime.
Kim on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:03 pm #
Because they tan leather with formalydahyde, the same chemical they use for embalming. After working with it for years (leather, not dead people) the smell makes me want to yak. So, just remember the next time you walk into Wilson Leather and take a deep breath, you might as well be sniffing a corpse.
KarenR–I still haven’t found Tab!
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:10 pm #
Kim- PMP!!! That is great!! I’m sad to say I don’t have a Wilsons Leather in my mall.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:16 pm #
You’re going to see Garth, Mia Rose. NOOOOOO. I want to go, too!!!!! I’m a Garth fan, in case you missed it. I remember burning my fingers with a cig lighter when he sang The Dance in Cincinnati in ‘98 maybe? I went with friends and we screamed for hours. Couldn’t talk the next day. We had SIXTH ROW SEATS, so when Garth shook, we got wet. God, that was a great night!!! I’m so JEALOUS. I want to go, too!!!!!!!!!
Eh, Kim, I drink TAB, nectar of the goddesses and one step away from battery acid. A little formaldehyde never bothered me. Now when the leather still smells like cow crap, that’s a problem, LOL. Bella Lugosi drank formaldehyde before he died, trivia truth. Ew.
You haven’t found TAB yet? Have you knelt and groveled to the grocery manager?
Karen Hawkins on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:19 pm #
I have a coat from Wilson leathers. I’ll never look at it the same. I swear I won’t.
Ever.
I had no idea they used the same chemical although . . . dead person, dead cow. Maybe it does make sense. I just wish I didn’t know. I really liked that coat, too.
Kim, thanks for posting the Milky Way cake recipe. I wonder if it’s on my Weight Watchers list? Hmmm . . .
Karen Rose, my kids dig having their birthday on the same day. They say it makes them ‘almost twins’ that they are three years and forty-five minutes apart.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:27 pm #
Oh, man, I’m still whining over missing THE GARTH!!!! Mia Rose, WHERE is he playing and HOW did you score tickets? You’re too young to enjoy GARTH. You should give your tickets to ME.
I have a very nice memory of THe Dance, my fave Garth tune. My house in Cinci had these tall skinny trees that swayed so gracefully in the wind, and it seemed the wind was always blowing. Every morning at the end of my run/walk, I’d play The Dance as my cool down and reward. I’d listen and watch the trees sway, doing their own dance and … breathe. It was a moment, every day.
I miss that house in Cinci. But I don’t miss the snow. Even though I like the smell of it.
Kim, I like the smell of leather and have a couple leather jackets, one from Wilson’s. But I hate the smell of a certain pizza place where I waitressed a million years ago. I like their pizza now - one at a time, that is - but I can’t walk into a their restaurant without wincing.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:27 pm #
Karen H, if you don’t want that Wilson’s leather jacket anymore and I lose a million pounds (HA!) can I borrow it since we’re Mt. Oly neighbors? I’ll let you borrow a cup of sugar to make Kim’s Milky Way cake.
Sabrina Jeffries on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:30 pm #
Lisa H and Ellen and Karens, we should form a club! I was 9 months pregnant in August, too–in New Orleans (and KarenR, I had ALSO just turned 30–how weird is that? Not to mention that my son was born 9/11 like KarenH’s). I remember being utterly miserable all the time. My due date was September 1st, which happened to be Labor Day (insert joke here, if you wish, but I didn’t find it amusing AT ALL). BUT my son was 10 days late. Yes, ten. Oh, and I had my first editor appt. ever (pre-published) on Labor Day. You should have seen the expression on HER face when I walked in!
Old Spice reminds me of Dad–he may still wear it now. Pipe or cigar smoke reminds me of my great grandpa–he was a larger than life guy. Cigarette smoke always reminds me of my grandfather who smoked a lot. I’m probably the only non-smoker in the world who equates cigarette smoke with masculinity and thus finds it sexy.
Ellen on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:37 pm #
Lisa H…My year was 1993 too! We are “bloat” sisters forever!
There was this house in our neighborhood that we walked past every Sunday on our way to 9:15 Mass. The smell of bacon and eggs was incredible. My brothers and I would stand in front of that house and just sniff the air for a few minutes without saying a word…like a pack of starving mutts.
Alas, we were Cheerio kids.
Ellen on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:44 pm #
Sabrina, Karen and Lisa…we should form a club. Do you remember what your ankles looked like? Mine looked like two loaves of unbaked white bread.
Here’s a little bit of information for us to ponder. You know how people always say you are pregnant for nine months? Well, a full term pregnancy is 40 weeks. Am I crazy or does 40 weeks seem more like 10 months. It’s all a conspiracy. LOL
Could be worse…my favorite elephants are preggers for three years.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:45 pm #
Ellen, you could SEE your ankles? I have no clue what they looked like.
Ellen on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:48 pm #
I am not a huge fan of certain cut flowers. They remind me of illness and funerals.
Love my roses and daisies though. Really love sunflowers and black eyed Susans
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:51 pm #
Speaking of being pregnant forever, my SIL’s brothers best friends girlfriends mothers daughters best friend (or someone like that) found out she was pregnant at her 6 week check up after her first child. So that is like half an elephant with a break for sex in the middle. No?
Mia Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:51 pm #
Karen Rose, you need to be adicted to eBay like I am and you’ll find anything you could ever possibly want!
Including Garth Brooks sold out tickets.
He’ll be doing 3 shows a day for 3 days in Los Angeles @ the Staples Center starting Thursday (for the fire relief in SoCal) and I decided I had to make a road trip with my sisters to listen to Garth as a b-day present to myself! (as well as the new cowboy boots and hat I bought…) You should fly out to LA & come see him! We’ll pass on the burning of the fingers this time though… I have to admit that The Dance always makes me think of dead people (ha, not leather) because it’s been the go to song at so many funerals and memorials…
I saw him back in ‘97 too, although I *didn’t* have 6th Row Seats! I’m so jealous!
HaHaHa, and I have to add that NO ONE is too young for Garth!!
I’ve loved him since I was in elementary school and I swore that we were long lost cousins (before I got married my last name was Brooks)…
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:52 pm #
Sabrina, you deserved to get published, just for scheduling an editor interview on your due date. Gutsy lady.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 12:59 pm #
Oh, all right, Mia Rose (Karen R says begrudgingly), have a good time, since it’s your birthday and all.
Seriously, have a ball and I want a full report! We got those great tickets in Nov, ‘96 (I googled it - it was earlier than I thought) by lottery. Man, what a night it was. I hope you have a great time.
Mia Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 1:07 pm #
Ya’ll are scaring me with this talk of bread ankles, resistant smelling of sauerkraut and perfume while being bloated. HaHa, Makes me scared to get pregnant for fear of the everlasting affect on food and perfume!
And Sabrina… I can’t stop smiling over the fact that you scheduled and editor interview on your due date. That’s priceless (as I’m so sure the look on her face was) !
Freedom Writer on 23 Jan 2008 at 1:15 pm #
I too was 9 months along in a hot sweltering August (being at 8months in July is no treat either). My beautiful son decided to be born mid August the day after both my Doc and my mom left for vacations. Some stranger had to deliver him and my dad had to come visit me in the hospital all by himself. BTW the smell of hospitals remind me of having babies.
Kari E.: My older brother was 2 years 4 months old when my younger brother was born. Thank God for birth control.
cail on 23 Jan 2008 at 1:46 pm #
so, Karen H, this begs the question. What important event is on Jan 11?
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 1:48 pm #
LOL Cail!!!! Do tell Karen!
Karen Hawkins on 23 Jan 2008 at 1:54 pm #
Cail, it actually takes about ten months to have a kid — or it did for me, as both of mine were wayyy overdue. My ex and I used to kid that ‘Thanksgiving sure is a big day around our house!” Heh!
Sabrina, you are a gutsy woman to schedule an interview like that! Good for you!
Btw, if any of you visit Nashville, be sure you go to the Blue Bird Cafe. It’s a total dive but you’ll need a reservation because it’s where song writers go to check out their new songs. Sometimes Garth, Alan Jackman, or others will be there, listening for new songs. It’s a MAGICAL place and the guys I saw playing had written a huge number of hit songs - one of them wrote “Some Beach” and another had worked with Garth before he was famous and had written a bunch of songs off of his big albums. It’s really neat to see the writers behind the singers.
ladydawgfan on 23 Jan 2008 at 2:01 pm #
My favorite flowers are hyacinths because the scent always reminds me of spring. We have always had them planted in various gardens whereever we lived, and they always bloomed after the snow was melted and the first warm spring air had come. The scent of Easter Lillies affects me the same way.
As for songs, there are a lot of songs that bring back memories for me, some good and some bad. The good ones I will listen to, sometimes over and over and over. The bad ones get turned off as soon as I hear the opening notes, and Yes, I DO have those notes memorized!!
BTW, although I don’t have children of my own, my sister had TWO in August (2nd and 17th). Her ex was soooo supportive (not!). AS she waddled around in the Illinois heat in her muumuu (the only thing she could find comfortable), he encouraged her with comments like “Look out for Shamu!” or “Make way for the Great White Mother!” She divorced the creep after their second child was born!!
Suzanne Enoch on 23 Jan 2008 at 2:12 pm #
Whenever I smell — or better yet, taste — a buttermilk donut I remember being a kid and going to the bakery at Knott’s Berry Farm. They had this small plaza full of old roses, and a statue of a St. Bernard that was worn smooth from all the kids sitting on it and patting it.
claudia dain on 23 Jan 2008 at 2:39 pm #
Add me to the August Nine Months Pregnant club. And he was late, born Labor Day weekend, which was in Sept that year.
I wore a perfume in my freshman year of high school that had a strong lilac scent and my boyfriend was intoxicated by the smell, said every guy in school was going to follow me down the hall in a trance. I’ll never forget that. Lilacs make me think of him even now.
Midnight Confessions: I made my fill-in boyfriend play it over and over again so I could pine over the guy I *really* wanted, Mr. Lilac. Every time I hear that song now, I relive that longing.
Old Spice: all the men in my family wore it and my DH wears it. It’s the only “right” smell for men according to my nose.
colinfirthfan on 23 Jan 2008 at 2:44 pm #
Whenever I smell the soap my garndma used to use I remember the awesome times all us cousins used to have in her home during the summer holidays. There would be 9 or 10 of us kids together for an entire month running wild.
This time I went home(my brothers home now) I opened my mums cupboard and breathed in the smell of her clothes. It was like having her back again for a minute.
Its been 7 years since my Mom and Dad passed away and my brother has left both their cupboards exactly how they left it. My sister and I told him to give away some of the clothes and he has but I agree it is comforting just to stand and look at their stuff.
I was about 7 months pregnant in August with my second and had people asking me if I was having twins. Then I was on bed rest for the next 3 months so I literally looked like a whale!
I can’t imagine having kids 9 months apart.
Freedom writer your mom was pregnant continuously for 3 years? Wow!!
SuzyQ on 23 Jan 2008 at 2:45 pm #
One more for the club - my son was born two days after Labor Day
Kim on 23 Jan 2008 at 3:06 pm #
Kari–what’s PMP?
For you Garth fans, my mom got to meet him once! She worked at the factory that made all his concert sound equipment. He used to stop in occasionally to tour the factory. His bus would be parked in the lot and he’d take time to visit with all the workers, give them signed posters, etc. It was very cool.
KarenR–not that desperate YET! But I’m considering it
Oh, and it takes a LOT more than a cup of sugar for that recipe. LOL
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 3:19 pm #
Freedom Writer- I just saw what you wrote. OMG! Couldn’t do it. One of the silly reasons I breast fed for as long as I did was because I was told that breast feeding helped prevent pregnancy. Or something to that effect. Something like nautral birth control. It worked.
I also had amazingly big boobs for an additional 9 months. Not so much anymore. Not so much at all.
Kim-PMP= Pee My Pants. Someone started this club a little while ago (few weeks maybe) I do it often on here. We need pins for it just like the “Be A Goddess!” pins.
Paula on 23 Jan 2008 at 3:44 pm #
I’ll join the club my son was born in September so I was 8-8 1/2 months pregnant in August and yes it was a hot one over here.
The smell of cigars always makes me think of my Dad’s brother as he smoked them.
The smell of blackcurrant throat pastiles rminds me of my Grandmother who always had a tin of them beseide her chair incase she got ” a tickle in her throat”!!, she always let us have one.
The smell of porridge cooking brings back memories of when I was a child and Mum would have a pot of porridge bubbling on the cooker at breakfast time in the winter.
There is a song by Mike and the Mechanics, can’t remember the title, but it always brings a tear to my eyes as it makes me think of my Dad. The words include something like “never hear his newborns new cry” or somethinglike that.
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 3:59 pm #
Paula-It does the same to me too. If it’s what I am thinking of it is called Living Years
The part goes:
I wasn’t there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn’t get to tell him
All the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I’m sure I heard his echo
In my baby’s new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
I always thougth how that song brings life into perspective when you argue and fight with someone over silly things. *sigh*
Paula on 23 Jan 2008 at 4:16 pm #
Thanks Kari E. I knew it had words like that in it. It makes me cry every time and it is 19 years this summer that Dad died. The song that I can’t bear to hear is a Donna Summer song that was No. 1 in the UK singles chart on 3rd June 1989. My Dh (we weren’t married then) was driving me back to Mum and Dad’s after a phone call from mum but he wouldn’t tell me why. We were in the car and that song was playing when it registered what had happened, ever since then when that song by Donna Summer comes on the radio I have to turn it off, I can’t stsand it any more.
Kay on 23 Jan 2008 at 4:57 pm #
Karen, thanks for another great blog to bring back happy memories. I have a nasty sinus infection (that’s why I just got to the computer) and can’t smell anything, so I’ll go with smell memories.
Coffee–my DH. He gets up and makes the coffee.
Fresh cut grass–my sweet sheltie, Angus, who died this fall. He loved to roll in the grass after it was cut. I know this spring, after the first mowings, I will be crying.
Popcorn–my mom. She LOVES popcoprn, and made it every Friday evening, after dinner. We would play boardgames.
Cinnamon–my Grandmother. She made these amazing cookies every time we visited.
Stargazer lillies–our wedding flowers. DH picks some up when he sees them in a shop. SOOOOO romantic.
Jasmine–our first apartment had jasmine growing by the pool. DH and I would lay by the pool in the evenings (on the few days we had off at the same time) and catch up on the week.
Karen Hawkins on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:00 pm #
i thought of another song that always makes me cry- Letters from Home about a young kid in Iraq. I have a 17 year old son and he has to register next year. Makes me weep to think of that.
Oh, and the smell of wintergreen gum makes me thunk of my dad and church. He used to carry it in his pocket and give it to us so we’d be quiet during church.
I have the best dad, btw. He’s an awesome guy.
Meg on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:19 pm #
My mom’s favorite smell from bath & body works is Moonlight Path. Back in 2003 I was in a horrific car accident (the other guy’s fault-not mine) and stayed in a rehab hospital for three weeks after a week long stay in in a regular hospital. Since my husband could not take all that time off from work, my mom stayed with me in a private room. To this day, that smell reminds me of that particular time. However I don’t think of it as a bad memory. Hey, I was alive and well and learning how to walk again; that sounds good to me.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:21 pm #
Letters from home, John Michael Montgomery. I love that song too. And Come Home Soon by SheDaisy and I’ll be home for Christmas by Josh Groban. Every one makes me tear up.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:24 pm #
Meg - wow, what an experience! I hope all is well and that the Moonlight Path is just a memory.
Kay, your mom never made popcorn for me. Sniffle.
Cookiedough on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:35 pm #
the smell of juicy fruit gum reminds me of my sister Lorraine. all through her teens, when I was her shadow, she chewed and popped it.
To this day I cannot listen to the Graceland album by Paul Simon. The music helped my sister cope with the time our dad was dying in 1988. She played it for our every weekend road trip we took from PEI to NS. I can’t listen to any of it now.
I love the smell of hot rain too. the sizzle of it hitting the hot sidewalk! or that ozone smell during a thunder storm! I run outside every time and stand in the rain.
And the smell of lilacs.
Lily of the valley is a fav of mine. We got to tour the perfume company on a family trip to Bermuda when I was 7 and I’ve never forgotten walking through fields of flowers. Apparantly I saw Bette Midler sing with Barry Manilow playing piano.. no memory of that- just that the guy playing the piano was wearing a fur jacket and thinking he was weird. Bermuda was hot.
Cookiedough on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:36 pm #
on the same trip BTW
Lisa H on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:46 pm #
I didn’t have ankles the entire summer. I had water engorged stumps. My husband bought me a pair of Birkenstock sandles and those were the only shoes I could wear. Yes we should form a club, perhaps it could be called,
“Women who can’t say no”
or
“Women who are too stupid for Birth Control”
or
“Women who want a child but are terrible planners”
or
“Women who are calender challenged”
The possiblilities are endless. And yes, I was 2 weeks late!!!!
Meg on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:48 pm #
Oh yes. Everything is fine now. It was rough going back then, but I made (in my opinion) a 98% recovery. Nothing is ever the same as before. I look back on that time with a smile. Some people find it wierd, but I actually like my scars. Aparently, there is a creme on the market that is great for scars because many people have recommended it to me. I just smile at them and tell them that I don’t want them to go away. I think it adds personality.
KariE on 23 Jan 2008 at 5:58 pm #
Lisa H
“Women who get horny in Winter”?
Karen Hawkins on 23 Jan 2008 at 6:36 pm #
Lisa H, how about “Women who never leave air conditioning anyway.” That was me, at the time. Now, I’m tougher. Then, not so much.
Meg, when I went through a very rough relationship break up, a friend of mine sent me a picture frame. It was made of wood, and had a wide crack up the side of it. Whoever made the frame, chose that piece of wood BECAUSE of that interesting crack. As my friend wrote in the note that came with the picture. “Sometimes, the ugly things we go through that ‘crack’ our hearts also make us stronger, and more capable, and even more interesting.” I can still quote that because I read his note a hundred times and it gave me hope to keep on keeping on. Perhaps your scars represent all you’ve accomplished and all you can accomplish because you know now how strong you really are. Wear those babies with pride!
and KariE — BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was so bad! But funny. Very funny!
Kay on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:29 pm #
KarenR,
She didn’t? I know you and I made a batch of my grandmother’s cookies–or tried to. We were talking so muck that we missed a couple of key ingredients.LOL What a mess. I think we resorted to just eating the chocolate chips.
freshechelle on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:44 pm #
I recently tested my sister, made her close her eyes and smell grandma’s old leopard jacket and guess that smell. She knew right away cigarettes and perfume equal Grammy!
When I hear Austrian women speak English, it relaxes me because the facialist I used to visit was Austrian.
There’s a Trisha Yearwood song called the Song Remembers When about this concept which I think is called “conditioned response”. Not sure about this.
Can’t wait to go home and read all the comments from today (takes too long from this blackberry). Good topic, KR.
Sabrina Jeffries on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:52 pm #
Okay, y’all are laboring under a false impression. I didn’t SCHEDULE it, because, believe me, it wouldn’t have been on my due date if I had. Our chapter was having an editor come speak, and since it was obvious that I wasn’t going to have a baby that day, I decided to go. Things were a lot more loose back then, so after she gave her talk she said any of us could have an interview who wanted, so I thought “what the hell.” It was pretty pointless actually. The editor was for Harlequin, which was just setting up their new Harlequin Historicals line (yes, this is going to date me). She said they didn’t want any foreign settings, medievals, or Civil War. Me and my three friends looked at each other and sighed, since between us, two of us were writing medievals, one was writing Civil War, and my book was set in Thailand. I did the interview anyway. I figured it was good experience. And I had to do SOMETHING to keep my mind off the fact that my dratted baby had decided to LIVE in my womb!
Sabrina Jeffries on 23 Jan 2008 at 7:54 pm #
Lisa H, I TRIED to plan. I had PLANNED to have my baby in June, since I was teaching college at the time, and I wanted the summer off as a maternity leave. Ha! Nature does what it wants, no matter how you plan.
Lisa H on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:27 pm #
I have three children. The only one that was planned was child #2. I hear you my sister, loud and clear!
Gannon on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:32 pm #
Count me in as one of the August preggos! I was 8 months pregnant with my first, in Florida, where it’s too hot anytime for pregnant women. My daughter (third child and only daughter) was born August 4, 1999 during one of the hottest summers in Virginia. The only shoes I could wear were Birkenstocks–I forgot what my ankle bones looked like!
The smell of Coppertone Cocoa Butter reminds me of summers at the beach when I was little–before the days of sunscreen.
Journey and Foreigner songs remind me of high school dances. *sigh*
Judy F on 23 Jan 2008 at 9:55 pm #
Old Spice reminds me of my dad.
Lilacs bring back some great growing up memories. We had a bush right outside my bedroom window.
Karen Rose on 23 Jan 2008 at 10:11 pm #
Thanks for sharing all the things that remind you of the good and the bad, everyone!
Sabrina, I’m still freakin’ impressed you went into that editor appt. I didn’t want to see anyone the days before I had my kids.