The Lovely Girl Next Door

I've been wearing the perfume by Sarah Jessica Parker called LOVELY pretty much since it first came out. So clearly, I love it. A few months ago, my friend Dolly, who usually has my same preferences in fragrances, told me I should check out the newer SJP fragrance too, and assured me I would love it.

Since I'm running a little low on Lovely, I stopped in Nordstrom to check out new possibilities. A lady at the counter asked if I needed help. So I told her what I was looking for. She helped me find the fragrance my friend had mentioned, which is called Covet. I squirted a little on a piece of paper, but the lady told me to put it ON myself, that the smell would be "green" at first, but then it would change and I would LOVE it. I did what I was told.

And I was waiting for the scent to change from green to something else, I told the saleslady how much I loved Lovely. She told me, "Lovely was very "girl next door". Sarah wanted to go for something totally different with Covet. So this one's very "Sex and the City". " And as she was saying this, I was smelling my wrist, where the perfume was. And ewww. Yes, not the girl next door I was looking for. Very heavy scent instead. Like a Channel no. 5. Which is NOT me. It smells like a fancy lady all dressed up with big hair and a lot of make-up. (Yes, to me, some things have a visual smell.)

So I told the lady this scent wasn't my kind of thing. She seemed to be still trying to convince me that it was. So I said, "Well, to me it smells like a dressed up, sophisticated lady- and I'm not really that lady." And she looked at me sadly, touched me on the shoulder, and said, "ohhh...." (as in "Oh. I'm sorry. That is sad for you." And I said, "No that's ok. I'll just buy more Lovely next time instead. I was just curious about this one."

I didn't think I was insulting myself at all to say I'm not a dressed up sophisticated lady. I thought it was so funny that she seemed to feel sad for me. I'd rather be the girl next door any day. And I'd rather be lovely, than covet for something I do not have.