Friday morning sucked.

In the span of 2 hours, all these things happened to put me in a bad mood:

*A car hit an electric pole near our condo, shutting off water AGAIN for the second time in a week.

*My husband had to go to the pool to get water to flush toilets and shower at his work gym

*I was plagued by diarrhea for the 3rd day in a row since making pork rind “bread”

*My guts were so mad, I skipped breakfast

*I went to a different library to get more stuff for the Overdrive app. They tried to shake me down with late fees and replacement fees from 8 years ago! Statute if Limitations, anyone? I walked out, mad as Ragnar Lothbrook.

*A minivan driver nearly hit me twice

“That’s IT! I’m going to Nordstrom’s!”

Lots of friendly salesladies.
Samples
Perfume samples.

Aromatherapy.

It instantly put a smile on my face 🙂 and changed my whole outlook for the day.

I became Super-Friendly Dream Shopper complimenting the ladies on their tattoos and eyewear, being open to a cap-sleeve Little Black Dress, and buying said dress.

Why the change?

Chemicals and our limbic system are powerful.

One whiff of Valentino “Donna” and I was transported back to Paris’ Gobelin district with wonderful smells of flowers, rain-wet pavement and crinkly bread.

Why?

According to Scientific American (2002) “The olfactory bulbs are part of the limbic system and directly connect with limbic structures that process emotion (the amygdala) and associative learning (the hippocampus).”

Scientific American also suggested that fetuses begin to absorb odor and smell via their mothers and adopt their food preferences.

I’m not sure about this.

Neither my twin nor I would eat radishes, beets, butter pickles, okra or Ratatouille; even if taken prisoner.

Sorry, Mom, I love you but you eat weird things.

My twin likes merengue, strawberry KoolAid and hotdogs (sick).

I prefer cookie dough and gooey foods as does my niece who grew up far away from me. She is the extroverted version of me. We still both have the same hand wash ritual, the same laugh, and we both hold our arms up while sleeping.

It seems there is a genetic component here.

Who was my first ancestor to like gooey food and the smell of cre’me brulee’?

It had to be one of my French ancestors from what later became La Rochelle. I just can’t imagine my Kattigat Viking ancestors having an appreciation for cookie dough :

Floki:”Ragnar! Let’s Raid! But first, lets eat some cookie dough!”

Ragnar:” Yes! It reminds me of my childhood!”