Nosy Interview: Sarah DeVore

Sarah in WISE: Heart and Soul Nebulas in Infrared,  ©NASA

Sarah and I met through our curly-haired husbands, who became fast friends in college. Read more about her adventures on her blog. 

What do you smell like?  

On the day of my wedding, Nosy Girl asked me what fragrance I was wearing...to which my Minnesota-raised reaction was to apologize "Oh!  I'm sorry!  I know, it's strong!"  I was a nervous wreck and decided to overcompensate to mask the raw nervous sweat smell...I don't think I even got to tell you the day of my wedding, because I was running around like a Chihuahua on Red Bull, nervous but happy, scurrying in circles.  So!  At last!  My rather pungent (6 sprays!  6!) smell came from an itty bitty beat up bottle of "Eternity Moment" by Calvin Klein that I keep around for special occasions, when I actually pull out my makeup bag.  This does not happen often, I don't usually wear makeup or perfume, so this little bottle has lasted way too long...I think I used up half of it just for that day! 

Now I'd like to know, what fragrance did Nosy Girl wear to dazzle her guests' noses with the day of her wedding?!? 

I won't talk about what I've smelled like this past year traveling.  Eww, gross! Thank god for natural pheromones...the man still likes me!

I used to keep a large bottle of work-Christmas-present-body-mist in my room back when I had a room and didn't live out of a suitcase.  It was part of the daily morning routine. R man would sit up in bed for the free entertainment and watch me run around the bedroom getting my things together at 6 a.m. for work.  Somewhere in the process, half dressed with keys in hand and bagel in mouth, I would grab a large spray bottle of coconut lime green mystery water, spray a big cloud of mist in the air in front of me and jump around in it like a crazy women, arms flailing up and down like a desperate pelican getting ready for lift off, all while jumping up and down, kind of like the chicken dance, finished off with my eyes crinkled tightly shut and the sound of Rodolfo laughing hysterically. What's funny is, I never remember actually smelling like lime coconut post-cloud!

What do you like to smell?

Over this past year, R man and I have gotten to visit some really awesome places in S.E. Asia, Africa, Europe, N. America (States + Montreal) and S. America and something all these places have had in common is outdoor markets, a circus of smells! All a little bit different but with surprisingly aromatic similarities which make me happy.  I love smelling street markets! Produce!  Seafood!  Meats!  Live chickens!  The dirtier and more questionable, the better! 

A good street market experience for me tends to have a raw, earthy smell to it.  A combination of sweat, herbs, salty ocean, spice, dust, fried foods, street dogs, rotten produce, blood and of course fish entrails...not always the most appetizing smells, but I've grown to love the chaos of it in my nose, it makes me feel alive. I love the people smells in markets too.  Strangers slowly meandering by, standing next to me long enough to catch a hint of where they've just been, what they had for lunch or their perfume...sometimes, they too smell like dirt and meat entrails, it's always a surprise! 

Markets are a great way to get to smell the foods local people enjoy eating. Sometimes, it's an adventure just to smell!  I will never forget walking by my first durian fruit cart in Singapore...the smell was enough to pinch my nose shut 10 feet away, so I knew I would never be able to eat one...to me, they smell like a 16 year-old boy's sweaty gym sock after it's been forgotten in his locker for a year.  How awesome is that!?! 

I miss the smells of spicy chiles, salty ocean critters and sweet exotic fruits dripping from their ripeness attacking my senses...the farmer's markets here in the States are slightly too clean for my taste, but our recent aromatic experience of fresh ground coffee and fresh cut flowers at the St. Paul, MN farmers' market brought back my love for my hometown. 

My nose is always looking forward to our next street market meander and whatever smells it finds there!