Bio

92 Biography: My name, nickname actually, is Jay. I hail from the Buckeye state and work in a treasured job in the Library field that I acquired only a few years ago. A library lover through and through, hence this Call No. class format. Welcome to my 3rd blogging year. The focus has changed since I started but still encompasses home fragrance and other good smelly things; books, reading and reviewing has become a recent passion. As a vendor wax addict and former candle collector, both collections are featured often. My favorite scent category is Fresh. Sharing and discussing my finds is a favorite pastime, and motivation to write.* Popping in for a look is much appreciated and I’ll always respond to a comment. 

370 Education: Bachelor’s of Secondary Education with a History concentration. Fields of study: U.S. History, Social Science and Political Science. Some graduate course work in Intervention Education with 13 years experience before branching out into Library Science. Worked at Yankee Candle in summers and weekends for over a year, learned all the candle tips!

640 Home and Family Mgmt.: I have a happy home with my husband of 16 years and our little Boston Terrier pup.

jayjohnny

610 Medicine and Health: A cancer survivor going on 7 years. My cancerversary is October 26, 2010. Cancer “clear” as of June 5th, 2012. Five year remission date June 5, 2017. My treatment, while life-saving, resulted in infertility, causing me to champion female reproductive cancer awareness. If anyone is currently going through similar issues, feel free to reach out with questions.

780 Music: Alternative, Brit Pop, Brit Soul, Classic Rock, Classical, Folk, Pop, Rock n Roll.

Artists: Eric Hutchinson, Green Day, 21 Pilots, Haim, OAR, The Violent Femmes, Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, The Head and the Heart, Bare Naked Ladies, Adele.

Classics: Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Paul Simon, The Beastie Boys, The Violent Femmes again, and actual classical music.

796 Athletic & outdoor sports & games: Baseball fan of The Cleveland Indians, NCAA Basketball enthusiast and College Football fan of The Ohio State Buckeyes.

800 Literature, rhetoric and criticism: Book reviews given on occasion, especially if strong feelings are generated by my current reads. Participating in The Bookish Jay and Reading Mermaid’s 2019 reading challenge, constantly behind on my tbr.

Writing style: Informal, hyperbolic, parenthetical. I blame comedian Jim Gaffigan.

Favorite genres: Historical fiction, Nonfiction, Memoirs, Young Adult, Bildungsroman, Classic Literature.

Novels: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Diary of a Young Girl, Fahrenheit 451, The Harry Potter series, The Poisonwood Bible, Pride & Prejudice, The Princess Bride, The Road, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, To Kill a Mockingbird.

811 American Poetry: Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Ogden Nash, Edgar Allan Poe, Shel Silverstein

821 English Poetry: William Shakespeare, W.H. Auden, T.S. Eliot, A.E. Housman, Spike Milligan, Alexander Pope

895 East and Southeast Asia Poetry: Rupi Kaur-newer feminist pov, highly recommend.

060 Associations, organizations and museums:

High School Speech and Debate assistant coach. Started the team with my educator husband 10 years ago. Members of the OHSSL and National Forensic League. The most time-consuming and rewarding task, also the reason I will be stressed out from October through February.

Band of Bloggers-writing and responding to a monthly newsletter with fellow female bloggers since Jan. 2017. It’s lot’s of fun, recent post here.

Member, supporter and/or advocate of: IMLS, ALA, HSUS, Angels for Animals, YMCA, Livestrong, Autism Speaks, supporter of the Arts, particularly theater.

Thanks for reading!

-Jaybird

*Disclaimer: All opinions and photos are my own, without compensation unless stated.

20160121_112208
Current Yankee Candle favorites

20 thoughts on “Bio”

Add yours

  3. Jay! OH my gosh, thank you so much for the lovely package of goodies! I picked it up last night and have been delighting in sniffing things ever since. So many vendors I’ve never had the chance to try (usually because they don’t ship to Canada) – I literally shrieked when I saw the Jackie O rose from VCS, so exciting. And SuperTarts? The pop tart is THE most adorable thing I’ve ever seen, aside from The Bathing Garden lips. They’re so cute and are going to be making an appearance in a Valentine’s Day wax post I’m putting together. And delighted to be able to try the Waxy Wonders chunks – holy crow, they’re gigantic. Them’s some weighty wax.

    But really, thank you, thank you, that was so nice and thoughtful of you. I know that you prefer fresh or more realistic scents (some say less cloying!) to my “all bakery, all the time” thing, but I think I’ve got some goodies to send your way that *just* might tickle your fancy. Are there any scents that just make you want to heave? Always a good thing to know, before I stock your package with just, you know, that one scent! 🙂

    Yay, thanks again! You’re such a great online waxy friend (that’s a thing, right? If not, I’m making it a thing!)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yay, I’m glad you’re enjoying sniffing. I don’t have much bakery, so I tried to give you some fun bakery shapes! If you like VCS, I can definitely hook you up. I went a little hog wild ordering last summer and still have a whole loaf of Jackie O to get to. From what I’ve heard, it cures really well, so let me know!
      The #4 and #5 macarons are Sweetwagon Scents, Sunday Brunch (apple cider donut, praline pecans and sugar milk) and Treat Bag (candy corn, lollipops, caramel apple)

      I’m afraid I do have a couple scents that might make me wanna hurl-banana, grape or cherry. Jessica sent me my only RG wax in Toadstool Trifecta, I appreciated the strawberry but it may have been too much. I guess if it could be a banana-split topping, I might not like it. Jeez, am I a picky bugger. The good news is, I’ll try anything and love variety. It’s very kind and generous of you to send some wax love.
      Btw, we are officially OWF’s ❤

      Like

      Reply

      1. OWFs, I love it! Also sounds vaguely dirty? No, just me?

        I am COMPLETELY on board with the banana/cherry/grape wax scent embargo – those are some of my least favourite scents as well (except I do have one Rosegirls scent called Banana Cake, and it’s pretty fantastic – yummy bakery, very mild banana, and none of that weird Laffy Taffy scent.) Fizzy scents also weird me out, and every single lemon sugar scent (Hey Lover/Hello Lover) gives me brutal headaches, so weird.

        I will totally hook you up with some Rosegirls, because that’s virtually all I have, but no Strawberry Jam (I think that’s the scent you probably objected to in Toadstool Trifecta – it’s super smackery and very cloying. Best in the tiniest of doses, or sometimes not at all.) I’m on it!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  4. Thanks so much for following Oh, the Places We See! It’s not every day we meet a candle enthusiast, so let us say, we’re excited for you! Best wishes as always for a good year ahead. And thanks for traveling with us! Rusha and Bert Sams

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Rusha and Bert! I’m also a travel enthusiast and am looking forward to following along on your adventures. Thanks for stopping by to say hello.

      Like

      Reply

  5. Jay! You’re the bestest OWF (Online Waxy Friend)! My post-birthday package arrived, and it’s so, so lovely – thank you! If I didn’t already suspect that we are already the same person, I’d say you know me so well, because I love everything! And not just the inspiration for the scents (I will never melt The Lost Boys, because it’s just too wonderful to have TLB-scented wax; 10-year-old me is DYING over this) but the scents themselves – the Pink Sands in Leonard (so yummy), that kind of hay-ey, oat-y note in Beetlejuice (do you suppose Beetlejuice smells like an oatmeal cookie?), and how did you know I’m a Raspberry Zinger fan? Because Optimus is pretty dope.

    And speaking of, I love Sirius! I’m not the least bit put off by the spice – I likes it. 🙂 I also completely clapped for joy when I saw the Lasting Scents strawberry cup – it’s my first time trying them, and it also smells totally delicious. And one of your precious little bath bombs! Which smells about a million times better than so many of those janky Lush ones, seriously. And the little kitty bookmark? I just started up a new read, and I’m tucking it into the pages as we speak.

    And your card was so sweet – thank you so much for being one of MY favourite places to go for a smile. 🙂 And thank you so much for being my friend; this gift, coming at the tail end of THREE STUPID ARSE WEEKS of illness, couldn’t have come at a better time – I for real shrieked. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  6. Hi Jay,

    My name is Anuj Agarwal. I’m Founder of Feedspot.

    I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog The Candle Enthusiast has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 60 Candle Blogs on the web.

    http://blog.feedspot.com/candle_blogs/

    I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 60 Candle Blogs on the internet and I’m honored to have you as part of this!

    Also, you have the honor of displaying the badge on your blog.

    Best,
    Anuj

    Like

    Reply

    1. Yes, thanks. Last August at a lil winery where I stayed w/friends. It represents this time of year well for me. Always use my photos for headers, but I’m’ considering switching to a stationary title header, too lazy figure one out now.

      Like

      Reply

  9. Hi there. I think wordpress has a glitch or I bumped something. I read the comment you posted about the Lovely Blog Award, on my blog and then it disappeared. *sigh* I don’t know how these things happen. Thanks so much. 🙂 I’m really sorry.

    Like

    Reply

  10. I loved reading your bio! I will definitely be checking out your blog more often instead of just sticking to IG. We have similar taste in music and I am excited to read your book reviews.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks Abby, I am enjoying book reviewing! It’s much more of a challenge than wax reviews, there’s only so many ways one can describe a scent as” fruity.” You are so sweet to stop by and reach out.
      Similar taste in music means you are good peeps in my book:)

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

A WordPress.com Website.

Up ↑