It's The Little Things

After procuring this candle, it took me one week before I tore the plastic wrapping off the box, and another before I took the candle out of its cardboard house and placed it by my bedside. Part of it was because I didn't want to mar the smooth pink surface and dirty the pristine white wick, but another part of me was like, Seriously? You spent $65 on scented wax?

I have finally lit the candle, and perhaps due to overblown expectations, I was not impressed by Diptyque Rosa Mundi. Once during a sample sale, I managed to snag a mini trio that consisted of Opopanax, Feu de Bois, and Oliban. When I burned those, the fragrance filled my entire room, while Rosamundi barely hits my nostrils a few feet away. When I do smell her, it's a pleasantly sweet, powdery rose.

But on days like today, after a loooong day at work, I look at the candles by my bedside – and this may be a little silly, because they are just candles, but each one holds a different meaning to me – and I'm glad I'm able to light this pretty little candle after all. Sometimes we do things that don't make sense because they make us happy, right?

How to have a crackling fireplace in an NYC apartment

via Instagram

When I was young, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Mid-Autumn Festival every year – not because I wanted to hang up pretty paper lanterns, but because my mother would allow me to gather the dried twigs and leaves in my backyard and create mini campfires out of them. Even though Malaysia is a tropical country (average temperature is 32C/90F), I fantasized about bonfires and fireplaces and making s'mores. Now, as an adult in an actual cold country, I still become giddy when I hear the crackling of burning logs.

So how could it be that I only recently found out that wooden candle wicks are a thing? I was fortunate to be gifted an Alex and Ani Four Leaf Clover Large Candle, but I barely noticed the pleasant scent (notes of juniper, fig, and moss) when it was lit because I was too busy cooing at the soothing crackle.

This revelation has changed my whole approach to candles. I can have a mini fireplace in my bedroom! Why have it any other way? (Alright, who am I kidding? I will forever still want those Diptyques.)

via Gilt

A chance tweet alerted me to DayNa Decker (apparently a purveyor of candles with wooden wicks) candles on Gilt. And then I realized that Gilt actually has tons of candles on sale. I went a little crazy on the "Add to Cart" after that...