Boudicca experiements

Field Reports & Anecdotal Experience Women's Journals
21

Got my IH package today! YAY! In time for me to take it with me to my convention!

And I got a gift: an extra IS to-go! It was cool, but unfortunately as several have noted of their shipments, it was only about half-full when it got to me and the bubble wrap was actually damp. Since it has to ride a plane to get to me, I suspect it’s the depressurization that’s the culprit. I have to recommend packaging that is airtight to maintain the pressure inside the bottles. Still and all, I got extra shine! W00t!

And my cat went nuts wanting to cuddle the rest of the day, after I got it all over my hands. :roll_eyes::smiley: :wink:

Hubby was really curious about what was in the package, “it was so light.” I told him I was experimenting with some new perfumes and fragrances - no lie - and those were minis, like samples. He seemed almost disappointed. Not quite sure what to make of that…

22

Lets see those sales go through the roof, Boudicca!! You can do it!! :slight_smile:

With mones in tow, of course!! :smiley:

23

haha my SO was curious when I got the first package and I Told him the same thing. interesting tidbit about the atm pressure being true. can’t wait to hear how the mones work with sales!

24

Ok, I’m back.

O. M. G.

Ok I guess what I need to do first is tell you what I used:

Shine: 3 sprays to chest, refreshed with a spray to cleavage periodically through day, every few (3-4) hours.
IS/b1.2: 3 sprays to chest, maybe refreshed once in the afternoon if I thought of it.
IH: 1 spray on one wrist, smear wrists together, maybe refresh 1x, 2x through day.

This event was F, Sa, Su. Same pattern each day.

Self-effects: Calm confidence and a sort of relaxed vibe. If it got done, it got done; if not, no big woop. Felt pulled together and somewhat sexy. (In fact I was disappointed in a pic I saw of myself from the event today; I thought it made me look fat, but realized part of that impression was my arm blocking my back in an oblique angle shot. It made me look thicker than I really am.)

Effects on others:

Whoa. Whoa. WHOA. I sold books like freakin’ crazy. Hundreds of dollars of books. Complete series sets. One book sold out completely; two other books, I was down to only 2 copies of each; a fourth book, I had 4 copies left. I even sold a book that had gotten the cover dog-eared in transport so I discounted it.

I got a radio interview.

I had every single talk WELL attended, regardless of time (dinnertime, early in the morning, didn’t matter).

I got promises to extract invitations to other, similar events in different parts of the country.

I had friends/fellow authors remarking that I was “on” with the book sales. I had people remarking I looked fabulous. Friends were chattier and wanted to be around me more, and strangers were wanting to make friends. I’ve gotten some Facebook activity because of it, even.

In fact, Sunday morning when I should have been dead-dog tired, I was asked by one guy if I was a “morning person!” Why? “You look great! All relaxed and happy, not like you stayed out late last night!” (But I did. And I’m NOT a morning person.)

I had people chatting with me, wanting to ask questions, cutting deals for me when I wanted to buy something. (1/3 off ain’t no shabby deal either.)

Now the down side to this is that, whenever you’re at a thing like this, there are always a few people that want to come up and just taaaaalk your ear off anyway. Seems like the mones make that tendency worse. There was one woman I only shook loose when a customer came by and wanted to buy a book (she was a non-purchaser and went to everyone at my booksigning table - one to my right, one to my left, and me - just to ramble on and on about nothing and finger our books and rearrange our displays and generally be saccharinely annoying - the really interesting thing being that she didn’t go to any of the other booksigning tables). But I managed to be nice and didn’t let on that she was blocking customers and messing up my display. And it seemed easier to do. There was another person, a guy, who DID buy books, and all but puppy-dogged me around the rest of the con!

Summary: I went with 3 boxes of books. I came home with half a box and a nicely plump cash bag. I’d call that a definite success!

25

Um…can somebody esplain the nomination thing? :confused:

26

Ok had occasion to meet with the guy I consider my best bud. Used what is becoming the usual applications: 3 sprays Shine, 3 sprays IS/b1.2, 1 spray IH on wrists, then Boyfriend parfum. It was generally positive, and he seemed happy to have me around even though he was very busy. We managed to get the plot idea brainstormed we’d been tossing around via email and text, his posse was intro’ed to me and seemed quite QUITE friendly, and his toddler son decided I was THE go-to person for keeping up with his toys and sippy cup, lol. He also intro’ed me to his best friend from childhood. :frowning:

So I think in that respect, I’m just SOL. sigh

27

Ok having done a little more exploring on the board, and reading up on what various ingredients are in what I use, and what they do, I’m realizing the meeting with my wannabe best bud wasn’t such a bomb after all.

  1. He made time to talk with me and brainstorm the episode idea, despite having 47 gajillion people demanding his attention.
  2. He ensured that I came to lunch with them, & had the director put my lunch on the show’s tab, because I WAS there to brainstorm with him. Then he had me sit with his family in the cafeteria.
  3. He made sure he intro’ed me to everybody asap, and everybody seemed impressed.
  4. They shared their snacks and drinks with me.
  5. One of the crew really attached himself to me and when the director jokingly said, “Ok, we’re going to lunch. Grab somebody’s hand and stay together and don’t get lost,” he promptly grabbed mine and swung onto it…until my buddy came up to talk to me, then the guy deferred to him.
  6. His son, as aforementioned, glommed to me like jam to bread. The wee one has never done that before.
  7. His wife, who can be quiet and reserved, seemed more comfortable having me around, even chatting more. I want to be friends with both, but he’s literally the brother I wanted when I was growing up.
  8. During the actual shoot, which was a competition around a track, I positioned myself to be in good place to watch and to coach if need be, and he in fact was paying attention and watching my hand motions and hearing my calls, judging by head positions and reactions.
  9. When he first saw me he was all business and without thinking, stuck out a hand to shake, then it was like he mentally shook himself and thought, “This is [Boudicca]!” and pulled me into a hug. Then hugged me again when I left in the afternoon.

Yeah, he has a best friend of long standing. But he knows I think of him as a brother, and while he hasn’t encouraged it, he hasn’t discouraged it, either. And his buddy didn’t sit at the same table as he, his wife and toddler during lunch; I did.

I think my downer reaction the evening of, was because I was running around over rolling terrain all day and was flat-out tired, plus I got sunburned but good, so was in some pain.

In fact the few days since then have been generally days of pain - the sunburn, nastybad joint aches due to the tornadic system that came thru Monday (I’ve had that condition since I was in elementary school; doctors don’t know what it is), and falling on a small portable tv in the dark while struggling with a frightened, scratching, biting cat and trying to get into a safe place during a tornado warning. I had about 1 day of less joint pain after the storm passed, and now it’s building to the next storm again. Aaaand I keep going to the gym despite. (No sense in not going; it isn’t going to be worse because I go. Sometimes it helps.)

So anyway after a few days to think over it, I’m thinking it was actually a success.

28

Nope. I was wrong. In fact, it was a lost cause before I even got the mones. From my POV he completely let me down on several things that he’d promised, and from his POV I’m annoying and he’s too important now to make time for me. Things blew up big time today in email and from what I can tell, that’s pretty much the end of the friendship. :frowning:

I think I shall now go find a nice cave to crawl into and give up. I’m tired of fighting battles that I never win.

29

FWIW, and to be scrupulously fair, my-wish-he-was-my-brother DID follow through BEAUTIFULLY on one thing he’d promised me, and I’ve since found out that the other stuff, at least for now, is out of his hands - he currently has no control over it. So I cannot, and will not, hold him to account for those.

I’m still not sure what the status of our friendship is - or if there still is one - or if, by my definition, there ever really was one. There have been some terse emails by him and me that I interpret as peace offerings, but I’m not sure. And mones don’t go thru email, so… shrug

Yesterday I met an online friend - a young writing protege I’ve known since she was in middle school, now nearly ready to graduate from college. (I feel OOOOOOLD, lol.) She needed to interview someone on a particular subject for a class project, and chose me. So we met at a mall halfway (2 hr drive for each), with her bf in tow.

I dressed the part, like I would for a convention, and applied the standard doses of IS, IH, and IS/B. The whole thing went off like clockwork and she said it was the best and longest interview she’d ever gotten (a previous project had required interviewing at least 4 people in a given career type).

It was funny, though, because one guy with a baby in a stroller came by and the baby was just tellin’ it - right before being able to talk, and babbling at the top of his lungs. (“MA-MA-MA-DO-DA PBBBLLLTTT! AB-AB-AB…”) The dad lost the mom in the store, and had to keep wheeling the baby in front of us, looking for her. (“Ab-ab-AB-AB-AB-BAAAA!”) Pretty quickly Dad realized it was an interview, and he was profusely apologetic every time he went by, for what he knew was an interruption by the baby! We just found it cute.

After the interview was over, we 3 hung out all afternoon and had a wonderful time. When it came time to leave and go home, nobody wanted to leave, lol. And I got lotsa hugs, even from the bf, who my friend immediately told me, was a score, because he was reserved and NEVER hugged. :slight_smile:

30

Further thoughts:

So I’m noticing that I tend to be in a much better - more up, more confident, more relaxed - mood when I use mones than when I don’t. At the same time, as a writer, there are frequently multiple days in a row when I don’t go out of the house except to go to the gym. And when I’m at the gym I’m there to work out, not socialize, and I sweat profusely anyway, so don’t see the point in wasting mones. Likewise, I don’t use the mones when I know I’m going to be at home alone all day. (Some days my husband works his “regular” job during business hours, then spends the evening at another job.) I don’t see the point in using them when no one else is there to respond to them. I also have gathered that one can develop a “tolerance” to them if they’re used too much.

So how do I find that happy medium between being thrifty/not developing tolerance and feeling really good about myself and my world? Anybody following this? If so, anybody got suggestions?

31

OK sorry for the long delay, we’ve had nastybad weather to clean up after around here.

Anyway, I had occasion to go up north (I’m a Southern gal) to a convention and I carefully packed my to-go mones in a small ziplock bag out of which I evacuated as much air as possible, then packed it in my carry-on bag, since I was flying. I wanted to ensure that nothing leaked in the lower-pressure cabin. Seems to have worked ok, except that the little things didn’t want to spray too well initially.

The usual doses were in play - 3 IS on chest, 3IS/b1.2 on chest, 1 IH on wrists (smeared between) and refreshed on the rare occasions when I could find time. I think I did spritz some IS on my hair before a party Friday night.

I was kept very busy in panels at this convention, so did not do that much of my own book sales. However, I was generally considered an “alpha female” in the panels, and treated as such even by “bigger” authors - which didn’t hurt at all. AND I still sold enough to pay for my bills - considering my airfare was “sponsored.”

Party went well, and I was positively rec’v’d as somebody reasonably important. It seems that combination of mones, along with my natural enthusiastic tendencies, may be creating the alpha female vibe I was hoping for in the first place. I don’t know if I should try another mone in there to add alpha feel or if that would be overkill. Suggestions welcome.

In general, success! :slight_smile:

On the personal note, hubby’s been a little more suggestive lately. Still the same amount of action, but as an example, we went to a concert and in the row in front of us and down, there was a guy in a t-shirt of one of the female singers. A CUSTOM-MADE t-shirt. Hubby and I look at him, and hubby, who was a theater major, says, “Groupie.” Then he proceeded to explain how some groupies followed their fave from concert to concert and even got to know the roadies etc. I turned to hubby and said, “I want groupies!” He laughed, so I told him he hadda make a T that said he was my #1 groupie. He said no, it had to read #1 gropie. :smiley: I told him I was cool with that.

WRT the guy friend, I’m still not sure where I stand after the blow-up. After the storms I checked on him & family via txt and he responded w/ status asap & asked our status (which was ok). We were a long time getting power back and he was even longer but he did txt when they did. But no emails, no phone replies. I got scheduled on panels opposite him in an upcoming convention. Really big deal, though, that con, and I don’t know if he got me invited or if another friend did. I’ve pretty much decided to just back off and let him do whatever he’s gonna do. Apparently we aren’t nearly as compatible as buddies as I thought we were. It’s kinda sad, but there it is.

Also I am still wondering and waiting for suggestions on whether I should be using the mones more often for self-fx… (See previous post)

32

Does glucosamine help your joints?

33

I don’t know about should, but I do. I like feeling good - it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to put the disaster that’s my life to one side; and just enjoy the moment. The mones facilitate that - I’m already making the effort - and the relief of just feeling good is what I’m needing. :slight_smile:

34

No, unfortunately. I’ve tried the glucosamine/chondroitin supplements (which evidently have to be taken together) at my orthopedist’s injunction and gotten nothing but upset tums. I’ve been told this is an indication that I’m mildly allergic to shellfish, since chondroitin is evidently derived from shrimp shells. But I’ve had joint probs since I was a child. Nobody knows why and it doesn’t appear to be degenerative (except for the knees, because of a congenital deformity that’s causing them to wear out at 2x the going rate). Combine that with some major surgery last August that I’m still trying to recover from, back muscle overuse as a result of said surgery, and the lousy weather (the tornado outbreak for instance) and I’m in chronic pain most all of most days.

I hear ya. Maybe I’ll start using them most days, then. I just got back from a delightful spa pedicure (the kind where they massage your calves and feet), sitting in a massage chair, and feel much better, at least physically, and more relaxed mentally. I think I am suffering from a kind of post-op blues. I joke and say that, after a 3-year pregnancy, I delivered a 25lb., 4-6L water balloon by Caesarian. That usually gets across the idea of what happened to me. I could go into details, but nobody really wants to hear anyway so big wup.

Ok sorry, that last was a bit much and I don’t know that’s true, but mostly that’s the reaction I get. But that also shows you the kind of grouch I’ve become. I don’t like it and can’t seem to do anything about it. As I posted in the “cute” thread, my life seems full of suckage since the surgery and I don’t know anything to do but sludge through it until I (hopefully) come out the other side.

35

I would get yourself to a Holistic health center. It’ll take time, but you will feel better pretty quickly, it just takes a bit for it to show. I take a glucosamine/chondroitin combination pill. No drama and I’m quite allergic to seafood - amongst a whole bunch of other weird things no-one else is allergic to.
I’ve never had success with western medicine. For actual health, go Holistic; because if medication and prescription drugs made for healthy - America would be the healthiest country in the world.

36

Ok so I had this important local conference this week that I was specifically invited to. Not only to speak, but to sell books. I was getting ready for it and discovered I was out of IS. COMPLETELY out. A little IS/b left, not much. Enough to get by.

And so guess what? I didn’t sell very many books. Nowhere close to as many as I brought. And while the panels went ok, there were some big names there and I didn’t have quite the “stage presence” to stand up to 'em like I’ve done at some other conventions lately.

So there seems to be a very definite link between mones and my direct sales. (Obviously there cannot be one between the mones and my store and online sales. But an interesting note just the same.)

(As to why I’m still here: I can’t delete the profile so I’ve decided to just stick to keeping my journal.)

37

OK I now have a large bottle of IS, a replacement of IS/b, an IS to-go, and…a new addition, recommended by tisha23…P83. The IS definitely helps ME, giving me a more upbeat, positive outlook, which I certainly need right now. I tried a spritz of the P83 when it came today and I have to admit to some flirty feelings. I got a new pair of glasses today also and I started teasing my husband about, “What’s different, honey?” which he seemed to get a kick out of. He came home all tired and not really paying much attention until I started the “different” game, and when he got the right answer it got him to smile. This has promise.

38

OK so Friday we decided to go out to eat. Hubby had heard of a new barbecue place, but only knew the general vicinity. I got ready, spritzed on 2 IS, 2 IS/b, 1 P83, and my perfume. All around my neck this time. And we headed out in the car.

We arrived at an intersection in the middle of the street we knew the restaurant was on, and I asked which direction it was. He didn’t know, and I replied, “How do we know which way to turn, then?”

“That’s part of the adventure! Let’s go THIS way!” And he turned right.

We prowled virtually the entire street, which has a LOT of nice strip malls, going one way, then the other, and finally found the restaurant. We were told to pick our table (no hostess available at the moment), and a waitress would be by to take our order. Hubby picks a U-shaped booth and scoots ALL THE WAY IN, so we’d be sitting side by side instead of facing each other.

The food was great, and I remarked on a particular dish (potato salad, but with dill and ranch dressing) to the waitress. Later the cook came out and wandered tables to see how we liked the food. I again remarked on the potato salad and she asked me if I had it hot or cold. I said cold.

Five minutes later she was back with a little take-out bowl full of HOT potato salad, with shredded cheddar on top, and told me to try it. (It was delish.) Mind, this wasn’t a sample, this was a whole 'nother serving. I came away stuffed.

So:

  1. Hubby was more spontaneous than he’s been in years, maybe since before heart surgery
  2. Hubby made a point of picking a booth that could be considered a romantic arrangement
  3. The chef was extremely friendly and helpful to the point of providing free food.
  4. And I felt “in control” for the first time in awhile.

Interestingly, I wore a similar combo last night to a gathering at a friend’s house. We spent the early evening on their deck. Unfortunately mosquitos attacked and drove us in. I had on an open neck, short sleeved shirt, jeans, and sandals. My arms got chewed, my FEET got chewed - but my throat/decollete did not. Did the mones have anything to do with that? I would have thought skeeters LIKED mones, or were attracted to 'em…

I also had half the men of the group trying to sit someplace near me, after we went inside. :wink: That includes the college-age son of our host. O_O

Tonight we met a male friend for dinner, at the friend’s invitation. We arrived first, and were taken to a booth (regular square booth). Hubby wanted to sit beside me, but I had my purse and a birthday gift for the friend (we’d not had a chance to see him since his b’day last month) so with some under the breath grumbling, he sat opposite. Friend came in and came very close to sliding in beside me before realizing he’d probably best sit beside my husband. rolls eyes This, I like. Maybe I need to get a big bottle of the P83…

39

Wooo Hooo P83 is awesome isnt it ?? :stuck_out_tongue: It just gets better once you play with it some to.

About the mosquitoes its not the pheromones that keep them away they like those its the neroli. I find whenever I have neroli on they avoid me.

Great report :smiley:

Tisha

40

VERY cool! I think I’m gonna like it. I’m already considering buying a big bottle and I haven’t hardly gotten started testing it yet. :smiley:

And so it’s the neroli, huh? I need to get some neroli scented soap or something and bathe in it literally before I know I’m going outside, then… :stuck_out_tongue:

So Tish, talk to me about how to play with it… waits in wide-eyed expectancy Places to put it? Places to wear it? What?