A Connecticut Getaway
Several years ago, I was featured in the New York Times Thursday Styles section in an article entitled How an Underdog Pursued the Scent. The article mentioned that my family served as my personal focus group while I was developing my fragrances, but I also had a number of trusted friends living in New York at the time, who helped me tremendously along the way. They were there for moral support, and helped me with everything from wearing the perfume and giving me feedback to working as my pro bono PR/marketing guru in the early days (thank you Dani!). We have all stayed in touch over the years, and most live near one another in the Northeast.
Several weeks ago, my family and I traveled to Connecticut to visit this crowd. It was amazing to reminisce and to see our children play together (over 23 children and counting between us!). Our trip coincided with our 10 year wedding anniversary, and my husband's 40th birthday, which made our visit even more meaningful. Over the course of our four day visit, our hosts who generously housed our entire crew, threw us a lovely dinner party (while pregnant with baby #4), friends in Greenwich hosted a beautiful family friendly brunch, and another couple organized a beach-side BBQ with friends who came in from Long Island. We were incredibly touched by the lovely events that they all planned around our visit. It was a beautiful testiment to the fact that true friendships withstand the test of time and distance.
Here are a few shots from our visit...
The other side of the table
Late night cigars
The table was set with lanterns that had decorated the tables at our hosts beautiful wedding in NYC seven years ago
At the Sunday brunch, my friend thought of everything: crafts, bubble wands, leis, and delicious food and snacks for the kids and adults.
An impromptu hour of slip and slide after brunch
A day at the beach
Looking for crabs at a Sunday evening BBQ at the beach in Old Greenwich
Our dear friends came in from Long Island to join us, and seeing our kids together again was incredible
CATEGORIES: Kids and family, Places, Perfume news, events and articles
Luckyscent and Valentine’s Day
I learned about Luckyscent long before I launched my own perfume business. I'll never forget the moment my friend, Dani, showed me her bottle of Carriere (her favorite new scent at the time) at her apartment in NYC. She told me she had found it on "a perfume site that will blow you away." I can't tell you how thrilling it was when my fragrances later launched at Luckyscent!
I always look forward to my scentletter from Luckyscent, but I particularly loved their most recent Valentine's Day selections. The special edition Valentine's Day nail polish collection from Dose comes in an sweet trio of coral/pink/red and gold/platinum/orange. I'm partial to polka dots (as you can tell from my bottles and packaging), so I fell for the sweet presentation. I usually rely on Luckyscent to keep me in the know about the most exquisite, impossible to find perfumes on the market (there is literally something for everyone, all beautifully categorized), but they also have some other covetable products like my favorite Kusmi Gunpowder Green Tea, beautiful bath and body products and skin care.
On a recent trip to LA, I visited owners Adam Eastwood and Franco Wright at the Luckyscent offices. I was lucky enough to get the inside scoop on some of their new favorites, and snagged some amazing samples. My favorite skin care product was the Roses and Diamonds facial oil by Ray Simons. I hoarded it in my medicine cabinet until I couldn't resist cracking it open. It gives the skin a beautiful, healthy glow, and it's the antidote to chapped skin brought on by the Chicago cold. It's the perfect way to give your love roses and diamonds on Valentine's Day, without spending thousands! As an added bonus, they are offering free shipping on all orders in the continental U.S. over $75 with promo code: february.
If you're in the LA area, visit Scent Bar , their chic and tranquil retail store. You can linger for hours sampling a selection of their (over) 500 fragrances, and get expert advice without any pressure. If only I lived closer....
Ellie Parfum
Ellie Nuit Parfum
Tins of Kusmi tea
Dose trio in "Roses Are..."
Dose trio in "THE CURE (for love)"
Roses and Diamonds. Top image and last four images via Luckyscent
CATEGORIES: Perfume news, events and articles
Inspiration
After receiving Dinner: A Love Story, by Jenny Rosenstrach, for Christmas, I immediately starting reading and cooking my way through the book. So far, I love and completely identify with Jenny 's insights about food and family, and I have enjoyed every recipe that I have tried. I marvel at how well she manages to create the kind of meals that I am always searching for: those that both young chidren and adults can enjoy together. My days as a short order cook are over.
I visited Jenny's blog thinking that I would find tips for Monday night's dinner, but instead, I found another level of inspiration for my business. Inspiration is everywhere! Her post, entitled How to blog: My rules, lists nine lessons that she has found to be the most helpful throughout her blogging life. Lesson # 8 - Don’t Not Write Because Someone Else Has Done it Better resonanted with me. In my case I find it easy to become overwhelmed by number of fragrances on the market. When I recently scrolled through an enormous list of new fragrance launches in 2012, and think about how crowded the marketplace is, it's hard not to feel like my fragrances will be seen, heard and appreciated in the midst of cachophony of the others competing for shelf space. The conclusion I usually draw is that there is always room for something beautiful. Jenny says it perfectly - "Remember: Every story has been told, but not your version of it." Lesson #9 - It all goes somewhere - Jenny says, "the act of creating almost always leads you somewhere you never would have gone otherwise, and makes you see things differently. How is that ever bad?". I have grown and learned more than I could ever have imaged through the process of starting my own business and creating the fragrances I had always dreamed of making. The possibilities are endless if you don't let your own fear create limits that will stifle your creativity. I think we can all use a reminder now and then.
- Jess
*Image via www.dinneralovestory.com
CATEGORIES: Perfume news, events and articles
