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What Are Your Favorite Smells of Summer?

atla-061808-summer.jpgThe other day, Laure blogged her favorite summer smell. It got us thinking about our own list of favorite summer smells. So, since we missed the opportunity to share our favorite home sounds when the whole ATLA team got together, here's our list that was sparked by Laure's post...

 
 
  1. The jasmine that permeates Los Angeles in the spring. It's the one time of the year we drive home at night with our windows rolled down.
  2. Bain de Soleil suntan lotion. No SPF but we love the colour it turns our skin even if we're pale as a ghost.
  3. Salt water in our hair. It makes it crazy curly.
  4. Rain at the end of a hot day. And the quick sprint to shelter.
  5. Chlorine wafting up from a hot tub or pool. The flip side of 1.
  6. Sheets that have dried on the line. Try it!
  7. The promising smell of coconut in a drink. And the way the condensation beads up on the glass.
  8. Just pitched hay in a barn full of horses. It reminds us of summer camp.
  9. The smell of dinner cooking on the barbeque. You can't be grumpy when food comes off the grill.
  10. The acidic smell of cold wine. Even better when the smell is mixed with 1, 2, 3, 4, 9.


What are your favorite summer smells? Share them with us in the comments.

[Image via Snopek's Flickr Page]

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Comments (23)

Steak on the grill

posted by Elle B on June 18th 2008 at 11:25am
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fresh cut grass at dusk. not as good at any other time of day.

posted by MsAmanda on June 18th 2008 at 11:31am
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freshly mown grass, Coppertone, honeysuckle, highly ionized air just before a rainstorm breaks, citronella candles, the smell of fried clams at the Spring Lake, NJ beach...

Favorite sounds (since I missed that post): the bell of the Good Humor truck and on impossibly hot days the roar of my a/c!

posted by tahitianpearl on June 18th 2008 at 11:33am
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magnolias

posted by ValHalla on June 18th 2008 at 11:35am
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Honeysuckle, watermelon, and summer rain.

posted by hindulovegod on June 18th 2008 at 11:39am
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honeysuckle and irises. the beach. a late afternoon thunderstorm blowing in.

posted by itsabecky on June 18th 2008 at 11:51am
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Ditto on the Coppertone.

posted by Raena on June 18th 2008 at 11:55am
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Coppertone

Wellfleet marshes

Salt air

Hay

Cut grass

Heirloom roses

Cotton candy

Brooks chicken barbeque

posted by Jean on June 18th 2008 at 12:27pm
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Fresh water. You wouldn't think it has a strong smell until you are next to a fresh water lake on a hot humid summer day. It is perfect summer.

Salt marsh roses also have an intoxicating summer smell.

posted by robertcraig on June 18th 2008 at 12:31pm
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The pool, fresh laundry, rain, and anything on the grill.

posted by seevansolomon on June 18th 2008 at 12:52pm
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I just moved back to California after living in Manhattan for awhile where the summer smells of the city streets can be overwhelming and not in that delightfully heady way like the lilacs at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Memories of California always smelled like orange blossoms, salty air, jasmine, eucalyptus, coastal sage scrub and bbq's.

posted by libraseventy5 on June 18th 2008 at 1:06pm
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The smell tomato plants make when you brush against them.

posted by strmtrprbthngst on June 18th 2008 at 1:12pm
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Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil
Campfire
Evening sea air
Fresh clean cool sheets on the bed

posted by Sisero on June 18th 2008 at 1:22pm
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I was taken aback by a pleasant smell while driving on the 405 N through Lawndale yesterday. Road crews were trimming large trees growing over the wall on the south bound shoulder and I could actually smell the cut leaves as the air circulated through my vents. What an unexpected surprise .

posted by Seaside on June 18th 2008 at 1:27pm
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afternoon rain on a steaming hot sidewalk
charcoal heating up in the grill
beach towels drying in the sun - that combination of chlorine & tanning oil
strawberries with sugar

posted by millzee on June 18th 2008 at 3:09pm
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Corn*...I wouldn't say it is my favorite but it is the scent that means summer at home.

*As in corn growing in the field, not the stuff people eat

posted by A Charmer on June 18th 2008 at 4:05pm
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The air at the Jersey shore on a hot, sunny day.

posted by GHB on June 18th 2008 at 6:41pm
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BBQ hands down!!

posted by mva1201 on June 19th 2008 at 2:36am
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Linden trees blooming!

posted by Jane on June 19th 2008 at 5:55am
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I forgot clover!

posted by Jean on June 19th 2008 at 7:19am
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there's this smell the air takes on, especially in the morning, when it starts to get really hot. i could smell it this morning. nothing specific, just... summer air, and the foreshadowing of the hot day to come. anyone else know what i mean?

posted by candybeans on June 19th 2008 at 8:40am
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magnolias, definitely magnolias!

summer rain showers

and I second the 'beach towels drying in the sun - that combination of chlorine & tanning oil'

posted by Jeen-Marie on June 19th 2008 at 9:58am
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I love the smell, and the taste, of
HOSE WATER!!!!!

posted by dede on June 20th 2008 at 4:33am
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