Sis's Magic (Puff) Ball

Sis bought this last week at Sniffapalooza.
She was waiting a while for me at the Annick Goutal Boutique--I took the wrong subway--and found herself
falling in love with this fragrance. I found the postcard on my desk tonight.
I think this is one of the best purchases ever. I adore that pompom and gold charm. And Sniffapalooza
members got 15 percent off all purchases. [Yes, we do pay to go.]

TCOY

1. Hot morning bath. Oasis. But we only have one bathroom in our house and four people, so didn't last too long.
2. Went to church. Tried to pray. But Punch is a distracting handful.
3. Went to book group at Karen's tonight! She is a garden designer and piano teacher, former Broadway singer, and always sets a beautiful table. Tonight she served us Coq au Vin over mashed potatoes [Ina Garten's recipe], Burgundy wine, baguette. Julie make ratatouille, Jeanne brought a green salad with her signature dressing and I dipped strawberries in dark, low-sugar chocolate with a bit of orange extract stirred into the melt. The book we read this time was All the Light We Cannot See. I still have not read it. Sometimes it takes me a while to catch up.
4. Had to skip annual Halloween parade and party on block. Couldn't do it. Felt sick and needed to nap. H. took Punchy. 
5. Everyone brings something to the Halloween party. In years past, I have baked things, like Ina's delicious corn muffins, dense with a lot of butter, sugar and cornmeal. But this year I made a big platter with plump red grapes, fig jam, wheat crackers, a wedge of Brie and a piece of Humboldt Fog cheese. The latter is a bit pricey, but I figured it fit the Halloween theme, since there's a line of grey ash running through the snowy white cheese--maybe like a spooky night. That was my answer to not making Mallomars with orange icing eyes and cupcakes with candy pumpkins on top. But I still succumbed to a cupful of soft, sour candy corn gummies at Sweet Home Montclair today and had to pay for that. Fog cheese photo below from cypressgrovecheese.com.