The Nose Knows

Not Your Mother's Shalimar

There’s a new lady in town, and her beauty won’t stay bottled up for long.

The iconic bold fragrance in an Art Deco bottle.

Recently unveiled Shalimar L'Essence Eau de Parfum Intense features 

modern golden lettering and a vanilla-drenched profile. 

Eau de parfum from $115.

BY ALICE GARBARINI HURLEY

Shalimar, the storied French fragrance that has captured hearts and gazes since 1925, was the guest of honor in the Waldorf Astoria on January 31. To fete her 100^th birthday, a rejiggered version of the scent favored by screen sirens Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth was uncapped, passed hand to hand, sprayed and sniffed in the hotel’s new fifth floor Guerlain Wellness Spa.

A clutch of 56 guests of Sniffapalooza, the fragrance fan group founded in 2004, were there to meet and greet the icon's little sister, while sipping mimosas and nibbling on pastel pink and green macarons. Many purchased bottles of either the classic or new Shalimar formula from the gilded Guerlain boutique on-site. Some had loved the scent since their late teens, when their mothers gifted them a bottle, a sign that they were finally women. The classic, time-tested eau de parfum starts at $110 a bottle.

“Shalimar was independence for women,” said Lee Davidson-Xhakollari, Guerlain Manager of Education. In the 1920s, women were cutting their hair shorter and swingy, freer flapper styles were emerging.

Shalimar introduced the first footed perfume bottle, on a pedestal, with a fluted "batwing" design and then a signature blue, fan-shaped Baccarat Crystal stopper.

The glamorous crystal stopper is now a thing of the past, 

though a blue cap, batwing shape and pedestal remain.

Vintage bottles, like this one from the 1940s or 1950s, are collectibles. 

Image from GoldenAgePerfumes, an Etsy seller from Kansas.  

                                                                The fragrance was "conceived in a garden of India."

Shalimar perfume history began with Shah Jahan, the 17th century Mughal emperor of India, who was mourning the death of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. He built the Taj Mahal and the royal Shalimar gardens in her honor as a timeless tribute to their love. Inspired by this story, Jacques Guerlain created the sensual, opulent scent--the first amber--with woody, sweet and floral components. The blue, fan-shaped bottle stopper is said to be inspired by silverware owned by the Guerlain family.

On Saturday, guests passed around the footed and still sapphire-blue capped bottles, waving their wrists, or Guerlain paper cards, for first and second impressions. The intense contemporary eau de parfum “celebrates vanilla in every form,” according to Guerlain, incorporating precious Madagascan vanilla tincture. The “floral heart" blends bergamot with rose absolute and iris.  

“I like the original Shalimar better,” said veteran sniffer Judy Davis of New York City. "But," she cautioned, "you can’t buy a perfume online. I never have. You have to smell it.” 

Snowy Morning at the Waldorf

The group included “noses” who had traveled from Poughkeepsie, Philly or other parts of NYC. 

“This event sold out in six hours,” said Karen Dubin, founder and CEO of the fragrance group, “with a waiting list of 30.” She has collected scents since age 6 (Arpège by Lanvin) and has over 2,000 in her New York apartment. The original Shalimar “was too cloyingly sweet” for her. But the new Shalimar L'Essence Eau de Parfum Intense? “I’m wearing it and can’t stop wearing it,” Dubin said. She plans to spritz it on for cocktail parties.

You will have to mist your wrist and decide for yourself.

Sniffapalooza hosts several events a year, in places from far-flung Provence lavender fields to bespoke boutiques, including Frédéric Malle on Madison Avenue and Hermès. In the Waldorf Astoria lobby, a second Guerlain Boutique is fully stocked with fragrances, makeup (KissKiss Bee Glow Hydrating Tinted Lip Oil in a lavender hue, anyone?) and refillable candles, steps from the historic Peacock Alley Bar.

 

 

Restorative Yoga at Night, with Dream Oil

This oil smells so lovely and the makers say it helps us dream better.

I went to my restorative yoga class tonight, led by lovely Krystal at Yoga Mechanics on Forest Street. It was relaxing, the music was beautiful, my body was at rest, I put my stress down. I was restored.

One of my favorite parts is when Krystal goes around the room at the end when we are in Shavasana, the final resting pose on the floor ("corpse pose"), and dabs a little dream anointing oil on us. 

"If you want the oil, put your hands by your side. If you put your hands on your belly, I will know you don't want it," she says.

As she put a few precious drops of the intoxicating, fragrant oil in my right palm, she said, "Alice, the world is lucky to have you." So life-affirming and touching. She does that for everyone. "Bernadette, the world is lucky to have you," and so on.

The yoga studio sells some magical products from Dolly Moo, a brand run by two sisters whose retail home base is in an adorable little shop in town. Yoga Mechanics is getting the dream oil this week. But I already purchased a bottle* a few weeks ago. I love the fragrance, made from a blend of flowers.

What I have to learn, though, is how to be better organized about dinner when I take a late class like this. I got home about 8:50 p.m., and there was continued family drama, and I grabbed some foods I had not planned to eat. I'm grateful that I see that and that I intend to strategize. 

Good night.

*The bottle is small, and has a roll-on top. I want to see if I can remove that top, because I don't get enough of the oil with it.

Sniffapalooza Strikes Again

Today's brand also sells a Perfume Gun, packaged in what looks like a cleaning spray bottle.

We might be wine buffs, swirling reds and whites in balloon glasses and comparing notes, then perhaps buying an expensive bottle or three. Or cacao connoisseurs, nibbling on squares of midnight dark bars and barks to access smoothness, depth of flavor, how the texture melts on the tongue.  

But we are fragrance fans/followers/enthusiasts/collectors, and we follow the noses of Karen Dubin and Karen Adams of Sniffapalooza, founded in NYC by the first Karen in 2002. We sniff and spritz to our hearts' content.

This time, Sis (my sister, MaryAnne, from Connecticut) and I trekked into the Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Boutique on Madison Avenue at 72nd Street, not far from Ralph Lauren. The intimate space was packed with at least 40 people for an 11 a.m. start. Men and women in Burberry, good shoes and cool eyeglasses. A pretty redhead in a long Barbie-pink gown. Asian, White, Black perfume and overall style lovers. Young people just starting out, taking notes on an iPad, and older people, like me, who slipped out of my pumps and into my comfy sneakers after the event. Girlfriends telling each other their birthdays were coming up, so maybe they could gift themselves. Fragrance fans who knew to lift the glass dome off a scented candle and smell the dome. (Still an amateur, I had lifted the wax candle to my nose.)

A chic boutique staffer in all black, Gilda Atlan-Perez, offered a large tray of mimosas in slender flutes, then a platter of small pastries and mini muffins.  

"Don't be shy," she said as she moved around the room. It was, after all, Sunday brunch time.

When I said no thank you, Gilda said, "You don't drink champagne? You're not French, huh?"

We laughed. But she surely was French, presumably Parisian. Refreshingly over 50, slim and beautiful, not too tall. Black pantsuit, impeccable black suede booties with low heels and squared gold buckles, cleanly filed nails polished red, large pearl button earrings, black hair swept back off the face and slightly flipped at the bottom. Gilda was charming. And her eyes and the soft skin around them had depth, the depth that comes from living life.

Why the party (which Sniffapalooza charged $20 to attend)? Frédéric Malle, the Frenchman who famously started out at Barneys New York, is unveiling a new fragrance on April 17: Acne Studios par Frédéric Malle. 

Acne Studios is a Stockholm-based fashion house known for its distressed denim, footwear, wool scarves and more. (The acronym initially stood for Associated Computer Nerd Enterprises. Later a backronym was announced: Ambition to Create Novel Expressions.) This new fragrance joins Malle's Portrait of a Lady, Lipstick Rose, Carnal Flower and others released in collaboration with famous noses. 

A young perfumer, Suzy Le Helley, 32, and Acne's Jonny Johansson are behind the new "clean laundry" layered scent. 

The buildup was brisk. "I will take just a few minutes of your time and then we are going to smell it," said perfume and education advisor Josh Mayhew, who led today's masterclass. He and Gilda passed around white cards spritzed with the scent. We waved them and inhaled. Josh asked the audience to call out words to describe it.

Layered, soft, sweet, musk, powdery, floral, soapy, clean, the people said. Sis and I really liked it. It smelled really good. I noticed layers of fragrance right away, not just one or two pronounced notes. In an instant, I imagined myself wearing it, smelling fresh and delicious, and confident about that, and thinking that other people would notice my clean, lovely scent. It could become my signature.

Then Josh let the cat out of the bag. "It's rose, violet and orange blossom with peach and incense, all resting on top of a white musk base. It smells like fresh clothing, fresh linen, fresh clean garments but with a French twist, a floral from another time."

"We all own a lot of perfumes, all of us," said Sniffapalooza co-founder Karen Dubin after Josh's presentation. But she didn't talk long, because she and everyone else wanted to dash off and smell the hair mist, the body butter and rubber incense. The boutique extended a 15 percent discount to us ("unheard of," they said, because fragrances don't go on sale), and everyone received a parting gift, an elegant rubber incense disc to hang in a closet or cupboard and three fragrance samples. We carried our loot out in the brand's small orange shopping bag.

Since a 50 ml bottle of perfume spray costs $295 here, it is not in my immediate future. (Sis always loves irises, in both real flower and bottled fragrance form, so I had scoped out the Iris Hand Cream* last night and she bought a small tube.) But I love a good glimpse of beautiful people and a beautiful scent on a Palm Sunday morning in New York. 

FYI, here is Vogue's report on the Acne Studios perfume launch.

*From the website:

Frédéric Malle was inspired by the history of iris as precious perfume for the gloves and hands of the Medici family. 

Its subtle, silky texture was harnessed by Olivia Giacobetti with musk and cedar to produce a clean, soft scent, combined with the perfect textural balance: shea butter, vitamin C and lemon tree honey make for a rich, nourishing cream that absorbs instantly, to fully hydrate your skin. 

Time to Catch up on “This Is Us"

It’s been a long break since I’ve seen Jack, Rebecca and the (now #40 yo) triplets....

#thankgoodnessforgoodTV #andmovies #NBC #peacock

Spoiler alert: I could’ve sworn I'd seen TV promos saying the new, final season would start March 9 but now OnDemand says March 16. Boo.

TCOY

1. Healthy eating feels good. Salad, chicken sausage, almond butter, yogurt with apple and walnuts...not in that order. So does coffee in a cup & saucer from my parents’ 1951 wedding china set. Brings “Mad Men” to mind--coffee cups were so much smaller back in the day.
2. Walked Sug around the block.
3. Talked to Sis.
4. Raked and gardened, first two big brown bags of the season. Ready to dig into more.
5. Reviewed work invoices. Last year was a hell year in many ways and I hadn’t sent an invoice for articles I submitted in November. So now I did.
6. Starting to mentally gather items for Goodwill drop-off. Feels good. (The Ann Patchett essay in The New Yorker about decluttering was inspiring. I love Ann Patchett’s writing style.)
7. Short chat with neighbors outside, good to catch up.
8. Attended a virtual Diptyque Paris fragrance event on Zoom with Sis and a few dozen other scent lovers. It was fun. (Sniffapalooza).

Must Catch up Tomorrow

TCOY

1. Walked to Bergdorf Goodman from Port Authority and back again, to meet Sis and Diane for Sniffapalooza scent exploration day.
2. Had some salad.
3. Skipped dessert.

$ MONEY SPENT OUT OF POCKET

• Coffee bar on 5th floor of Saks Fifth Avenue, tall iced coffee plus tip, $5. Two free sample tiny cinnamon chocolate truffles, very good.
• Bergdorf's, set of 15 ponytail holders in their tony hair accessory alcove on Beauty Level with tax, $19.60.
• Sniffapalooza, Sis bought my ticket, which counted luncheon, and I will pay her back. When I do, will list here. Waiting for checks.
• That said, just used Nordstrom credit card for first time. The Nordy Rewards Club sounds, well, rewarding. I am working more steadily now. I will list any charges here, not when I pay the charge bill. One diptyque candle and one beautiful, very big Nest grapefruit candle [smelled heavenly when we sniffed it at Saks], $117. Free shipping. These brighten and beautify our home, soothing the whole family.

TOTAL DAILY SPEND: $141.60. 

really will crunch numbers soon! Didn't list bus tix to and from because I bought a ten-trip the other day, and list cost there.

Better to Light Just One Little Candle

I follow @LauraSlatkin on Instagram. I love her beautiful hairstyle, her fashion sense and her tabletop photos. She is the founder of Nest Fragrances and co-founder of NEXT for Autism. She has two beautiful kids, a young adult son and daughter. Her son has autism.

When I went to Atlantic City for a quick overnight with Punch during spring break in April, I blogged about the little blue Nest candle I bought at Blue Mercury down there in that casino mall on the boardwalk. In a city past its heyday, a bit down on its heels, and overall, pretty unfamiliar to me, this candle was a luxury and a comfort. It smelled sooooo good. It transported me to another place. Oh, the power of that little flickering light, that intoxicating Blue Garden scent. I have been wanting to get another, and now Nest makes lip balms and body care, too.

So...I worked at home today and applied for another job and washed my dresses and skirts in Woolite on the delicates cycle--and I spent some money on Nest, with 15 percent discount code and free shipping. The votives have 20-hour burn time; the classic, 50 hours. Trust me, these will bring beauty into our home and on our Cape Cod vacation in early August. This was truly a serenity investment.

Good night to you.

$ MONEY SPENT OUT OF POCKET

• NestFragrances.com. The company donates 10% of the retail price on all items in the Blue Garden Collection to Autism Speaks. Ocean Mist & Coconut Water Lip Balm SPF 15, $16; same scent votive candle, $16; Blue Garden votive candle, $16; Blue Garden classic candle, $42; and two free samples: mini Blue Garden votive candle and Ocean Mist wet & dry wipes, plus $5 tax and with $13.50 discount, $81.57.

 TOTAL DAILY SPEND: $81.57. 

RUNNING TOTAL FOR MONTH AS OF JULY 17 [AND STARTING JULY 5]: $834.

AVERAGE DAILY SPEND SO FAR: $64.15.

I'm having trouble cutting and pasting now but this Nest spend definitely goes on my list of big-ticket firecracker items in July.

An Autumn Love Letter to New York

Walking up Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village to meet Donna.

Here she is. We met when Donna became Lifstyle Director
at Good Housekeeping and I reported to her as a writer. She is a
magazine/publishing maven--
grew up in California, drove East with her love [now her husband], attended Brown.
Her career has spanned Women's Wear Daily,
Self, InStyle, The Wall Street Journal, more. She is kickass. Then she got her master’s in narrative medicine from Columbia University! 

Donna chose this great restaurant, Kubeh, and you read your future in the Turkish coffee grounds.

Well, I wanted to write last night but the evening turned ugly when Punch stalked off after soccer practice at the park, not wanting to go to Tuesday evening Open Tumbling [gymnastics]. I almost dialed 911 or phoned in an amber alert. I was worried; it was 6:15 and dark. Turns out she walked all the way home from Anderson Park, about 20 minutes. But I didn't know that, and I stopped in the poke noodle shop, peeked in the toy store, looked in Dunkin' Donuts and stopped in Kings supermarket. Once home, she walked down the block to her friend's. Good thing she left her blue jacket on her bed first, so I could detect that she had been home.

She knows how wrong this is. Dan and I talked to Punch sternly and seriously about it, and took away all access to our phones and laptops until Sunday. It was either that or lose play date today and/or Boogie Bash at school Friday evening.

Have to hop on my bike soon and pedal to a dr. appt. in Montclair, then get down to brass tacks and work on my deadlines.

But I have to blog about yesterday! A list:

• Energy and sun. It felt so good to be in the city. The zest, independence, purpose. The beautiful weather. Fall. The style sightings. A young woman in sheer black stockings and pretty boots. A man in a bespoke suit. People smiling, just because.
• Donna! Great to see my friend/editor again; it's been a couple years. We reminisced about good times and our colleagues and talked about the changing magazine business. Shrinking. We chatted about writing, about hunting down story sources--we covered common ground. Now, on top of writing and editing for creme de le creme publications, Donna edits theintima.org. I guess you can tell I admire her.
• The lunch. Oh, New York City is a food lover's playground, for sure. Kubeh had the most delectable soft, fresh, puffy pita bread.....and fabulous lamb balls with mint in savory broth....I didn't know when I ordered the tiny cup of dark Turkish coffee that it would come with a green card that says Your Future in a Cup of Coffee. It instructs you to sip, swirl, wait, flip the cup and look for images in the grounds. Our charming Albanian waiter, Zog [sp?], said his Mom is an ace at this. But all Donna and I could see in my grounds was, eventually, a monkey, which signifies curiosity.
• The best of everything. Including natural essential oils at a little treasure-trove shop Donna showed me [she uses the orange blossom water, so I bought a bottle to spray on my face]; a pink snowball* at Empire Cake, across from the Google offices; H&H Bagels, famous for being the finest [I brought 3 home for the family].

I have to pack up this laptop and go! Happy Wednesday to us all.

*My grandma Alice bought me a twin pack of pink Hostess Sno Ball cupcakes in Dumont once. It was a big treat. So when I saw Empire Cake's take on these, I allowed my inner child to get one. It was truly delicious.

A First Time for Everything

My marshmallow-making debut today.

The formatting is off a bit whenever I start a blog post on my iPhone and then finish it here on my Rose Gold MacBook. So please forgive all the extra spaces between paragraphs! A while back, I read that beauty visionary Estée Lauder loved chocolate-covered marshmallows. I think it was in something written by her granddaughter, Aerin Lauder, who is also a beauty visionary--and author, style maven, socialite, trendsetter. Williams Sonoma approached her to sell a line of AERIN tableware. She has a jewel-box shop in Southampton [I visit it on my summer day trips] and is opening a second Hamptons location.

In fact, the legendary whipper upper of beauty creams loved candy, period. When I went to a panel discussion last Saturday at the Architectural Digest Spring Design Show in NYC, Aerin said:

Estée had a little refrigerator full of candy in the family room, with boxes of candy. She would say, 'Take one, take two, take whatever you want.' She was fun.

Now that would be my kind of grandmother. Yet somehow, Aerin and her sister, Jane, are slim and beautiful, not carrying around any candy pounds.

I find it fascinating that on esteelauder.com, you can find A RECIPE! from a popular Soho chef--even a marshmallow video, which was very helpful, as the sticky confection is made, in this case, from powdered gelatin, water, light corn syrup, sugar, salt and vanilla bean seeds scraped from the pod.

You must boil the sugar syrup in a covered pan for 10 minutes, until it reaches 240 degrees F. on a candy thermometer. I do not own a candy thermometer now, so I just stuck with the 10-minute guideline. 

But the syrup was so hot and you beat it into the gelatin for so long [15 minutes] that the whisk extension on my red handheld KitchenAid mixer [the only mixer I have right now, and I've had it for years] got red hot hot hot and actually broke off at the stem. Yikes. I hope to mail the whole shebang back to KitchenAid and get a replacement, but I don't know...and plus, the postage would be a lot.

I'm proud of my kitchen crafting today. The marshmallows seem a little plain-Jane at first but then when you dip them in the dark chocolate and let it harden, they turn into glamour girls. I did eat about four of these light ladies, but packed the rest up in cellophane bags with pretty Easter stickers--to give to others. I gave a bag of six to the mom of Punchy's playmate today.

I left a baggie with three marshmallows on the kitchen table for Dan and Punch. [Darn, they almost passed vegan Figgy's test--no egg whites!--but that powdered gelatin contains collagen from animals. So, no.]

What happened to the all the rest of the marshmallows? Dan asked when he came in.

He was impressed with these. I also have to thank him for running to Kings yesterday when I said Please get me good dark chocolate, not a bag of Tollhouse chips. He came back with two nice big Scharffen Berger 70% Bittersweet Dark Chocolate Baking Bars that were on sale; but I only needed one. [I saved six naked marshmallows for the future.]

So maybe I can make them for special occasions, like Easter and Christmas. For me, it's not just about eating the sweets--it's the crafting of them. The candy-kitchen crafting. The chopping and tempering the fine rich chocolate. The dipping [I like Chef Camille Becerra's technique of using two forks.] It's a true passion for me. But as I said under my Instagram post, #backtofruitnow.

Happy Easter to you and yours. Happy Passover, too. Are these kosher? The Lauder family is Jewish. 

TCOY

1. Nice hot bath with the rest of my DollyMoo salts [made in Montclair].
2. Got to my support group, even though Dan took the car to drive Punch to her soccer game and Figgy took the bike to get to work. I walked 15 minutes to get there. Then I walked another 15 minutes in town and 25 minutes back home.
3. Had Asian salad.
4. Think I will sauté a pear now. Sis sent us fresh pears for Easter from Harry & David.

The Snifferati at Hermès

The Christmas season--with its ribbons and wraps, neighborhood parties, homemade eggnog, cookie baking and cookie sheet scrubbing, endless lists, sparkly tank tops, pâté and mini Bûche de Noël, shopping and packing the sleigh for this trip to Maine--delayed this post about the Sniffapalooza & Hermès Parfumerie Holiday Soirée on Saturday, December 16 at Brookfield Place in NYC. 

The only time I had stepped into an Hermès boutique was on an overnight drive to Montreal with my friend Anne, when she surprised her children, Ryan and Emmy, at McGill University. Our visit was whirlwind but not too short for me to pop in and see the Twilly and make mental notes about that younger, narrower version of an Hermès silk scarf in flirty, chic patterns and at a more affordable [yet still caviar] price: $160.

From Pinterest, see the Twilly on a Birkin bag.
Combining classic with modern style.

So how could I resist the Sniffapalooza invite to the Hermès fragrance store? Sis, my Sniffapalooza pal, was in Wisconsin, so I ventured into the Champagne-sipping, note-quoting field alone. It was like joining a group of birdwatchers in a sanctuary, all sporting binoculars around their necks. And it was great fun--especially since Punch was visiting her Mimi for the weekend and I didn't have to stress about child care and its limits and expense. [Dan was working at yet another holiday party.]

My first sniff was of a fragrance that smelled like leather--an ode to beloved Hermès saddles. It was too strong for me, and not pleasing, though I do love the smell of a new leather purse. 

Not to be rude, but who would wear that? Is it for men? I asked as Terence Boyer, sales specialist, spritzed scents and waved fragrance testers.

That would be me, said Lisa, the woman next to me. She said she likes the smell of leather-bound books and that old library aura. 

I loved the eau de rhubarbe ecarlate, just-picked, crisp, red, rejuvenating. Wake-up call. Like rosy rhubarb in a green summer garden. The pretty ruby stalk that snaps when you break it. Couldn’t be fresher.

We paused, Champagne flutes poised in mid-air, to listen to a brief greeting from the boutique's managing director, Shanti Amalanathan.

This is the first Hermès parfumerie in the world, she said. The second opened in Dubai yesterday. It's a new concept for us.

We were happy to hear that, but then resumed sniffing.

We have over 50 fragrances, Terence said. We started making them a long time ago, in the 1930s.

Another woman, a friendly New Yorker who introduced herself as Joan, like Joan of Arc, joined Lisa, Terence and me. She wore bold lipstick, a black fur-trimmed hat and a striking red, blue, gold and white Hermès scarf. 

Soon we were immersed in a cloud of fragrance jargon. They were talking about the drydown [the part of the fragrance that lingers on your skin] and Lisa said that in one fragrance, the rose seemed austere.

Christine, also on staff, said the Twilly fragrance was inspired by young women of today and the way they wear their Twillys--combining them with other clothing and accessories in unexpected ways. The bottle combines the masculinity of a man's bowler hat with a Twilly tie, she noted.

Terence walked over to rejoin us as I held the bottle lovingly. 

That's Terence and Lisa, back right. 

First of all, he asked, are you familiar with the Twilly? 

You bet I was, from that Montreal visit.

Is the fragrance for younger women? I asked. It has a youthful vibe.

Yes, but anyone can wear it, he said. Right answer.

I sprayed my left wrist. Then I sprayed it again. The scent was sweet and intoxicating. I wanted to keep burying my nose in my wrist.

I decided then and there that I was getting a bottle for Dan to give me for Christmas! The holidays are a time for indulging. He didn't mind, and he also got me some pretty earrings and candles and rose balm [not from Hermès. but from the Belfast Co-op in Maine].

Free engraving that day. Mine says Ali with a heart.

I detected Terence's slight Southern accent, which was nice. Turns out he grew up in Tennessee.

All I know is, he was raised well and properly and his Tennessee friends and family would be proud.

Oh, the sweet smell of success.  

And, I know exactly what I want for my January birthday: a Twilly scarf.

Day 19: Free at Last, on #66 to New York

Punchy is with her good Mimi this weekend. They Christmas-shopped yesterday and are having a family holiday breakfast with Mimi’s sister today.

Freedom! While we all adore spirited Punch, she can surely give us a run for our money, even at age 10. So when I saw an invite about today’s fragrance event at Hermès on Liberty Street in NYC, knowing I would be my old independent self, I reserved my spot for $15.

It’s hosted by Sniffapalooza, the cleverly named fragrance lovers’ group that attracts passionistas from all over for sniffing and shopping events. It’s through this group that I learned about Grace Kelly’s signature scent [Chateau Krigler 12; please see this post I wrote] and had a perfume bottle signed in gold, in person by Annick Goutal’s granddaughter at Bergdorf Goodman [under Tom Crutchfield’s loving eye at the jewel-box counter on the Beauty Level].

Sis likes going to these events, too. We haven’t been for at least a year. But she is flying to Wisconsin to spend eight days with Don’s daughter and family. She is sharply missing Don this first Yuletide since his April death.

Dan has been working very hard—article deadlines and the 60-Second Novelist is in very high demand for holiday parties. He's generally booked months ahead but for the one last night on the Upper East Side, it was just days ahead. People love him and the stories he taps out on the spot on his charming vintage typewriter.

Today he is driving to the Boston area to do a party.

Anyway, I don’t have an Hermès-size bankroll, but I love the idea of learning about their top notes, etc. I might get a shower gel. They look pretty delicious on the website.

More later. Bus about to nose into Port Authority. It’s not Rudolph’s red nose, but for the way my spirits are lifted, it might as well be!

Give Her Perfume & Chocolate--and Perfume in Chocolate

s

These delicate chocolates are infused with patchouli, caramel and other notes used in Angel fragrance.
Perfume bottle shown here is much larger than the gift with purchase I received.
Thanks to The Candy Perfume Boy blog for this image.

I braved a wind-whipped evening rainstorm for a work task of visiting La Maison du Chocolat--the exquisite Parisian chocolate company--at its hideaway in the Plaza Food Hall at the Plaza Hotel today. The elegant counter is tucked in the back of a board game of high-end culinary real estate. Neighbors include cult favorites Billy's Bakery; William Greenberg Desserts [known for perfect black and white cookies]; and Lady M cakes.

What to my wondering eyes should appear under the glass countertop but a slender, silvery box of "Chocolate Perfume" [$45] released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Angel, French perfumer Thierry Mugler's sweet, heady fragrance with cotton candy notes.

The best part: The petite "Shooting Star" bottle of Angel fragrance, the gift with purchase of the 14-piece, .19 lb. box, filled with two star chocolates that mimic the perfume bottle design and heavenly bites infused with vanilla, patchouli, raspberry and other Angel master secrets. There's also a discount card slipped in to use if you branch out and buy the scent./

Thank you, Giselle, for guiding me through the cacao and cologne pairing from your perch behind the counter at La Maison du Chocolat. [Fair warning: This is pricey for the featherweight box; the chocolates weigh less than 4 oz. total. Getting the perfume ups the value.] Tomorrow is Sis's bday and she's coming over for cake. I will serve the chic chocolates, too. Good night.

TCOY 

1. I walked about 25 min in Montclair today and 45 min in NYC, plus subway stairs/ramp workout.
2. Went on Punchy's class trip to the historic Crane House in town, which I personally enjoyed--so did the kids and the other chaperones.
3. That's it. My food intake has been disastrous. And I mean disastrous. I need to start w a clean slate after sampling the tender, buttery citrus bday cake I'm making for Sis tomorrow. But seeing that quandary/necessity clearly is part of TCOY.

Gratitude List

Sis gave me this beautiful gift for my January birthday.
I love the rich formula and the feminine fragrance, which lingers in soothing, powdery notes.

On a day when I lost my temper in the morning, felt muscle pain in my quads when climbing stairs, drove in the cold with no heat in the car and windows open to defog, had a frustrating time getting Punch to settle down for homework, and things are going wild in Washington, counting my blessings seems like a good idea--to keep things in perspective.

1. Hot mugs of tea steeped in my kitchen.
2. A fluffy white dog.
3. A therapist who is supportive and insightful.
4. A yoga class in the morning.
5. A snow-globe view of swirling flakes from inside the yoga studio.
6. Heat in our home.
7. Face cleanser.
8. Aerin Rose Hand & Body Cream, a birthday gift from my dear Sis.
9. The angel friends who are just a phone call away: Moey, Anne, Patsy, Elaine.

Good night to you.

TCOY

• Yoga stretches.
• Private Benjamin appointment. It's no small task to show up for therapy every week. Requires bravery.
• Some veggies.
• Day 4 no sweet treats.
• Important writing and reading.
• Productive work at my desk.

Sis's Magic (Puff) Ball

Sis bought this last week at Sniffapalooza.
She was waiting a while for me at the Annick Goutal Boutique--I took the wrong subway--and found herself
falling in love with this fragrance. I found the postcard on my desk tonight.
I think this is one of the best purchases ever. I adore that pompom and gold charm. And Sniffapalooza
members got 15 percent off all purchases. [Yes, we do pay to go.]

TCOY

1. Hot morning bath. Oasis. But we only have one bathroom in our house and four people, so didn't last too long.
2. Went to church. Tried to pray. But Punch is a distracting handful.
3. Went to book group at Karen's tonight! She is a garden designer and piano teacher, former Broadway singer, and always sets a beautiful table. Tonight she served us Coq au Vin over mashed potatoes [Ina Garten's recipe], Burgundy wine, baguette. Julie make ratatouille, Jeanne brought a green salad with her signature dressing and I dipped strawberries in dark, low-sugar chocolate with a bit of orange extract stirred into the melt. The book we read this time was All the Light We Cannot See. I still have not read it. Sometimes it takes me a while to catch up.
4. Had to skip annual Halloween parade and party on block. Couldn't do it. Felt sick and needed to nap. H. took Punchy. 
5. Everyone brings something to the Halloween party. In years past, I have baked things, like Ina's delicious corn muffins, dense with a lot of butter, sugar and cornmeal. But this year I made a big platter with plump red grapes, fig jam, wheat crackers, a wedge of Brie and a piece of Humboldt Fog cheese. The latter is a bit pricey, but I figured it fit the Halloween theme, since there's a line of grey ash running through the snowy white cheese--maybe like a spooky night. That was my answer to not making Mallomars with orange icing eyes and cupcakes with candy pumpkins on top. But I still succumbed to a cupful of soft, sour candy corn gummies at Sweet Home Montclair today and had to pay for that. Fog cheese photo below from cypressgrovecheese.com.
   

Dollars & Scents Report Tomorrow

 

Broome Street in SoHo, about 5 p.m.

It was a pretty day to walk around SoHo and the Village with Sis, sniffing and sipping and shopping. The lunch was at La Mela on Mulberry Street and it was ample and excellent but I allowed myself to indulge in the dessert platter. Hard to resist. Then I felt:

1. Self-conscious, thinking my belly grew noticeably in my DVF pale gray wool wrap dress. Thank God for smoothing gray Wolford tights.
2. Ungainly when walking all of those subway steps and ramps between the N train Times Square stop and the Port Authority. Take it easy, the man in the little subway snack shop said when I bought a cold Peach Diet Snapple. I thought I must have looked tired, dragging and heavy to him.
3. Kind of sick. Had to lie down on couch when I got home 2 1/2 hours later.
4. Irritable, picking fights with my family.

Better days ahead. Memo to self: Skip the cannoli. There's no such thing as a free dessert.

What I did resist that the Former Me would not have: Li-Lac Chocolates, Amy's Bread pastries, Billy's Bakery layer cake, Magnolia Bakery cupcakes, rice pudding store, glossy dark chocolate dunked espresso beans from Porto Rico Importing Co.on Bleecker Street and palettes of pretty macarons everywhere I turned. Also, back at the ranch: Goblin green sugar cookies from Halloween party Punch went to and box of four donuts she decorated at her pal's bday party at Montclair Bread Co. 

Good night. Live and learn, as my mother used to say.

TCOY

1. Logged over 14,000 steps on my Fitbit.

2. Salad. 

On Bus to NYC to Meet Sis and Sniff!

We're heading to the Sniffapalooza Fall Ball, first stop Annick Goutal on Bleecker Streer! More whiffs of fun and flora to come!

The Other Side of Midnight: Free Ticket Sweets Day

This still counts as day 3; but it's one of the two days in the month when I am allowing myself to eat the sweets I want. I caught the 8:42 a.m. bus into NYC to meet Sis for Sniffapalooza, a fragrance lovers' event....hope to blog about it soon. NYC is such a sophisticated playground for lovers of every food group, including sweets. Here is what I had today:

• 1 large slice of Junior's red velvet cheesecake. Very good.
• 1/2 of small mediocre dessert at Sniffapalooza lunch.
• 2 little cookies at Sniffapalooza event at Molton Brown store on Madison Avenue.
• 1 cup bittersweet hot chocolate with baby bowl of whipped cream [$8.50] --at La Maison du Chocolat, 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It came with a tiny foil-wrapped tile of chocolate. Also: 1 large vanilla macaron [$5]. Let me say, this hot chocolate was divine. You can also get semisweet. I feel like this was a real splurge, something I would remember for its opulence and luxury. I sat at the counter by myself at about 5 p.m. [Sis had headed back to Connecticut] and sipped it from a white cup with a silver spoon.

It's funny. I am not craving more sweets. I am so full. But that doesn't mean that tomorrow, like a drug addict, I won't be shaking because I want a fix. We shall see.

Also, the day was invigorating and exciting: going into NYC, seeing Sis, shopping for beauty indulgences, sniffing fragrances, getting free gifts, all of that is energizing. So while I said I felt more energized at my desk yesterday due to no sugar, I did still feel energized with sweets today.

Good night to you.

TCOY

1. Did start the day with a healthy breakfast at home: 1 slice rye toast with butter, 1 smoothie made with 1/2 banana, low-fat milk, ice and PB.
2. Actually applied makeup today, albeit in front of mirror at Port Authority bathroom. Chanel concealer, Bobbi Brown sky-blue eye shadow, Christian Dior navy mascara, Guerlain bronzer--and the tangerine Aerin lipstick I bought on my day trip to the Hamptons this summer.
3. Walked all over the city,  from the Port Authority to Bergdorf Goodman, over to Molton Brown, back to Rockefeller Center. Popped into St. Patrick's Cathedral; very pretty in its spruced-up state. Passed 10,000 steps on my fitbit.
4. Time to laugh and play with my Sis.
5. A few new beauty creams to enrich my life.

My Apple in the Rain, Part 2

Hit a bit of a wrinkle here.

Loved taking in my city yesterday. Felt that pre-Christmas ripple in the air. Random observations from my walk:

• The color red. Santa red, holly-berry red, tomato red. On swingy or slim coats worn by stylish young women.
• NBC's open windows that let you peek into the studio. I glimpsed Hoda and Kathie Lee perched on their stools...looking pretty, from tip to toe.
• Michael Kors store at Rockefeller Center. Our niece Florida Orange worked there all fall, until last week. I saw a glittery silver top in the window--would be nice with trim black skirt. That's what I'm talking about.
• Crowds pouring into Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Wanted to stop in, but was pressed for time when I passed by.
• The windows at Saks. I hope to get back and really drink them in. Fairy tales! So fanciful. But again, I was watching my time. [Then ending up sitting in doctor's waiting room for nearly 1.5 hours.]
• Dean & DeLuca on Madison Avenue. It's great fun to look at all of the holiday treats....from perfectly decorated cookies to fresh greens with red trim.
• William Greenberg Desserts. Didn't have to step in. From the window, I could see the blue and white Hanukkah cookies and the gingerbread homes being built. Holiday in the city!!!!
• Central Park. Gray and grim? Never. Not even on a rainy winter Tuesday afternoon.
• Bergdorf Goodman Beauty Level. Ducked in and found a 40 percent sale on certain styles in the Wolford alcove. Also combed the sparkly hair accessory collection but couldn't settle on one for Figgy this year. In the past, I often did. But now that she's in college and feeding herself in her apartment, she said what she really wants for Christmas is gift cards to Whole Foods, Utrecht Art Supplies and maybe CVS. I was eyeing a metallic gold leather hairband, but then I figured...no. It's hard to buy hair accessories for someone else, said the blonde woman with bangs who has helped me in that department for many a Christmas.

In the midst of this flurry of festivity, this blizzard of candy canes and gumdrops and silver Bergdorf's boxes, there was one sour lemon note. A young man working at the Christian Dior counter on the Beauty Level was not very nice. I was pricing the perfume--Figgy loves the one with the silver bow around the bottle neck--and he looked me up and down, sizing me up. He seemed to think I couldn't possibly afford a bottle, and didn't appear to believe me when I said I had two at home and my daughter loves them. I had gotten caught in the rain with a broken umbrella. I had my sneakers on, my beloved heels in my bag. My paper bag had torn in the rain and so I had stuffed it in my canvas tote. I did look nearly homeless, I guess. But I did not like being treated like that. Not one little bit. I feel a bit squeamish writing this because I don't want to badmouth someone. But this didn't feel good.
With the sour came a drop of sweet: The young man told me many people don't know that when the bottle is empty, you can remove the silver bow and use it to thread your scarf through....I didn't know, and I do love that tip.

Good night.

TCOY

1. Boot camp in the park. Nice warm day!
2. Walked Sug around block.
3. Took this time to blog.

Bubble Bath Miracle, $2.49

This product is on sale for $2.49 at my local ShopRite. I used it for Punch's bath tonight, telling her that last night, I took a bath with it at 11:30, and that it was soooooo relaxing, I almost fell asleep in the tub. Where was I? she asked. Where was Annie? You could have drowned.

She practically fell asleep in the tub tonight, too--I stayed right by her side, to be sure she wouldn't drown--and dozed off in bed very quickly. And since taking hot baths and going to sleep is something I do extraordinarily well, I'm going to send a work email and then plunge right in to the vanilla-oatmeal bath. Smells so good. Between Figgy, Punch and I, we have almost finished the bottle and I just bought it yesterday.

A revelation, coming from someone who has occasionally spent a lot of money, nearly $50, on a bottle of designer-fragrance bath and shower gel [Chanel Chance, Miss Dior Chérie,etc.] and a more middle-of-the-road amount on back-to-nature ones from Whole Foods and the Belfast [Maine] Co-op.

These bubbles are magical. Having said that, I can't promise I won't ever buy another bottle of Miss Dior Chérie. It, too, is intoxicating. And layering fragrances is indulgent. The notes linger....

Good night.

TCOY

1. Walked Sug around block.
2. Read, napped.
3. Kept doctor appointment.
4. Sauteed spinach with olive oil and garlic.

From Horse Country to Lilly Land

Beauty & Brains. Estée and Lilly come together--image from blog.lillypulitzer.com.

The pockets of New Jersey out toward Bernardsville and Far Hills are often known as horse country. Think U.S. equestrian team and rolling ranches. I drove out that way today on a writing assignment to meet with designer Jeffrey Butler Haines and his daughter, Ashley Bastow.

In additon to his Butler's of Far Hills business and showroom, Jeffrey is known for the carefully edited J. Butler Collection that he unveils every June at his shop on Centre Street in Nantucket. Apparently, designers, shoppers and homeowners hop off the island ferry and head right to the shop to check his collection each summer. [Nantucket residents await the opening, too.]. He anchors it on a single color, with a kicker accent--last year's color was navy. Another summer, it was shell pink. This year's will be natural charcoal with poppy for the kicker.

I love Nantucket...have shopped my Lilly Pulitzer store there! Hope to check out this shop one day in person. Meanwhile, enjoyed interviewing Jeffrey and Ashley about tabletop trends, color forecasts and more. Am now way better prepped to set a Nantucket-style table. Also loved perusing the Far Hills retail space, with new takes on equestrian furnishings: linen pillow edged with fine leather piping, $170; tufted leather desk chair with nail trim, $2,480; and gorgeous, brown-leather-wrapped crystal decanter for post-fox-hunt drinks, $466.

Good night, sweet dreams.

TCOY

1. Set my hair on hot rollers, to smooth it and define some curls.
2. Sis came to visit!!!! It was great to see her. She clued me in to the Estée Lauder gift with $35 purchase--a Lilly Pulitzer makeup bag with lipstick, mascara, special little Lilly flowered plastic travel bottles and other goodies inside. It's @ Macy's right now; we went to the one @ Garden State Plaza. Check it! We really like it. What I bought to get the bounty: Sensuous Nude Eau de Parfum Spray. Sis bought a compact and something else so that I, her little sister forever, could get the spend-with-$70 bonus of petite Lilly pouch with special eye shadow palettte. But don't worry, we both got the original GWP. Estée is Sis's favorite beauty brand and she always likes the GWPs.