Yes We Can - vote Histoires de Parfums!

So, if you read this blog, or know me personally, you probably know about my love of all things French (reference my posts from August - October 2008!). Well, lucky for me, my agency began working with Parisian fragrance collection Histoires de Parfums last December.

The collection of 16 fragrances has the coolest backstory - for those with zero knowledge of the French language, "Histoires de Parfums" translates to "Perfume Stories" and each scent tells a story - of a historic figure, legendary place, revered plant or idyllic year. It's fun to learn about the muse behind the fragrance - even the boxes are shaped like an old book to complete the theme.

I have a tough time with fragrance - anything too strong tends to give me a headache - and these are some potent traditional French eau de parfums... But as I've worked with the collection I've learned so much about the power of scent and how to properly appreciate it. My favorites so far? Vert Pivoine: a fresh and watery peony scent, 1889 Moulin Rouge: a unique scent with notes of absinthe and lipstick, 1969: a spicy unisex scent with citrus and chocolate notes, and Tuberose 3: a warm unisex scent with plum and dried grasses.

Speakingggg of Tuberose 3, I have a favor to ask. Histoires de Parfums's new Tuberose Trilogy has received the incredible honor of being named a Top 5 Nominee for the 2010 FiFi Fragrance Foundation Awards. This is HUGE! We're so proud to have made it this far - but now it's up to you!

Everyone is invited to vote for their favorites in each category through this link. If you want to support us, we'd be ever so grateful! Voting is open from today, Wednesday 4/28 - Wednesday 5/19 and the Tuberose Trilogy is nominated under the Unique Boutique category.

Here's some more info about the nominated Tuberose Trilogy, a trio of distinctly different scents all based around the tuberose flower:

• Tuberose 1, Capricieuse: a powdery floral with top notes of bergamot and saffron, middle notes of ylang ylang and iris, and a dry-down of suede and cocoa. A little sweet, a little salty.
• Tuberose 2, Virginale: a floral oriental that opens with mandarin and cherries, leading to middle notes of jasmine and frangipani, and base notes of vanilla and patchouli. Cheery and fruity, and the most feminine of the bunch.
• Tuberose 3, Animale: a leathery floral with top notes of neroli and kumquat, strong middle notes of plum, herbs and dried grasses, and a dry-down of immortelle flower and blond tobacco. The most masculine of the three, but the ladies like it, too!

Not sure if you'd like the scents? I'm happy to send you a sample of your choice (I'm capping this at 10 people though, sorry folks)! Just send me a note or a comment below with your fave of the trio and your address.

Don't forget to vote - Yes We Can, or Oui Nous Pouvons!

my first 5k!

I ran my first 5k this weekend. No stopping, no walking....BOOYAH it felt good.

See, I've always felt kind of pathetic when it came to running. My dad - a runner. My brother - any sport comes naturally to him so he's running a 1/2 marathon in two weeks. Sighh, me - not so much. I was always more into dance and cheerleading growing up. I'm extremely petite (to put it nicely) and my face tends to turn tomato red after running about 10 minutes.

But, in January, when it was freezing cold and I was miserable and feeling the weight of eating too much junk over the holidays, I decided to run a 5k this year. If old men can run marathons, surely I could at least manage to run 3 miles in front of other people without stopping.

So how'd I do it? A cool little training schedule I found online called C25k or 'couch to 5k'. It's technically made for extremely inactive people with zero running experience, so I figured there would be no way for me to fail. The program is 9 weeks long with 3 short runs a week. Week 1 began by alternating 1 minute of running and 1.5 minutes of walking for 20 minutes (easy peasy!) and slowly built up to running 20 minutes straight after 6 weeks, 25 after 7, 28 at 8, and a final week of three 30 minute runs. And voila - 30 minutes is (give or take) about how long a 5k run should take. I felt so good at week 7, I skipped week 8 and went straight to running 30 minutes. My biggest problem ended up being boredom! Running on the treadmill in my apartment facing the wall got pretty boring. I even tried to spice up my wall decor by adding a fake naked picture of Johnny Depp I cut from Cosmo, haha.

I chose a small race in Astoria Park this past weekend for my 5k debut. Just in case I ended up being super slow, I didn't want to get pummeled by a bunch of NYC Road Runners! The race benefitted QSAC - Quality Services for the Autism Community of NYC and LI. That's another cool thing about races - the proceeds always go to good causes, so you feel like you're contributing to something bigger than yourself.

And how'd I do? My finishing time was 33:40 - not so bad for a first time!! I even ended up passing up some guys which made me feel pretty good about myself. I won't lie and say it was easy...I was tired, and I wanted to stop during that last mile, but i didn't need to stop. I knew I could do it. And it was kinda fun having people cheer you on on the sidelines - I liked being cheered for instead of being the cheerleader for once!

In summation, if you need a kick in the pants when it comes to fitness, set a goal for yourself. I do so much better when I have a standard to hold myself to. Things can get boring when you do the same jog, or the same yoga workout every week. If you want to check out the program I used, here's the site: www.c25k.com. Summer is around the corner - so get your butt on the treadmill! ;)

Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper

Recommended to me by a friend, I recently read Diablo Cody's memoir Candy Girl. What a quirky and fun story!

Somewhere along the line I learned that the writer of Juno had a background in stripping and that she was funny, but reading this drove the point home. You can easily read this book in 3-4 days - I mean, obviously the subject matter (stripping in all its glory) is intriguing, but the way she brings you into that world widens your eyes, cracks you up and makes you not want to put it down.

Candy Girl chronicles Diablo Cody's one illustrious year as a stripper. Working at a dead end office job in Minnesota, she randomly decided to try out for an amateur night at a seedy townie strip club for curiosity's sake, but the curiosity didn't stop. Pulled into the crazy nightclub, cash rich, boobs=power lifestyle, she kept stripping on the side and eventually did it full time, with a stint as a peep show doll and a phone sex operator thrown in there, too. Her candid, honest take on the sex industry combined with her absolute normalcy and blatant sense of humor made this a great read. I realize why I liked the movie Juno so much now (And on a side note, I really should check out Jennifer's Body and the United States of Tara).

Aside from the entertaining subject matter, her voice is what really got to me. I saw a bit of myself in there. As the subtitle states, for her it was "A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper." As she developed into a stripper - buying the wigs, cheap bikinis and platform heels, becoming friends with her fellow workers, and grinding on strangers for tips night after night - she kept the perspective of someone on the outside looking in. Never quite sure if she fit the part and was indeed a "stripper" with all the stigmas and stereotypes attached.

I have the habit of trying out new personas - kind of like an actress going through life and trying out new roles every few years. In junior high, I set a goal to become a cheerleader. I played the role well but I was never sure if I fit in or had the right character for the job. At 18, I decided to become a New Yorker. I've lived here 7 years now, but I still don't embody the typical "New Yorker" attitude and I'm not sure I ever will. At 20, I became a bartender. I love the power, fun and cash that come with the title (and this may be the happiest and best fit I've found for myself so far), but I still doubt myself and my ability to blend in at times. At 23, I decided to travel to France and throughout Europe by myself. I don't know if I fit the mold of a true "world traveler," but I did have the time of my life...

This book almost made me consider taking a spin around the ol' stripper pole, butttt not quite. I already know that cash heavy, boobs=power world full of quirky middle-aged regulars and hopeful college boys, and I'm happy I just have to serve them drinks and nothing more (ha).

So, if you're curious about the world of stripping but can't see yourself hitting the next amateur night in your town, try this instead. Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper

Thoughts on Beauty and Life as a Girl

I remember using Cision (PR speak for the Yellow Pages of editors, bloggers and producers) for the first time almost 3 years ago at my first job. I was updating our Beauty Bible of editors and thought it was a tad strange that they were all classified as "beauty and grooming editors." The word "grooming" conjured up images of cats licking and matting down their fur...why not just call them beauty eds?

Fast forward to last week when I was leaving the salon near my office after getting a wax. It suddenly hit me...in today's world, beauty IS grooming.

grooming - to care for the appearance of; to make neat and trim

And let me tell you, for ladies, there is a lot to care for. Manicures, pedicures, brow tweezing, waxing and shaving everywhere, expensive face creams, makeup, lash enhancers, haircuts (TG I don't have blond hair, getting regular highlights would be such a bitch)....

And this really isn't an exaggeration - there is NO SUCH THING as a natural beauty. We aren't in the times of Adam and Eve anymore. It's not being fake, it's just the reality of being a girl.

The upkeep can get exhausting and I swear it's not always fun (some parts of grooming do NOT feel good), but without shaving everyday, getting regular hair trims and just generally taking care of ourselves, we wouldn't be considered confident women...and we probably wouldn't get any dates either.

That's all. Just a thought on grooming's place in the world of beauty. It's both the savior and bane every girl's existence!

Ah, the joys of New York living...

Hey dolls, it's been a bit. Not sure why I've been out of touch - long hours at work, winter slump, lack of inspiring things to write about...excuses, excuses I know.

Well, even if it's only to explain how stupid I am and have it in writing that I plan to change, I felt the need to write tonight.

I have lived in New York for almost 7 years now, and for the first time, I had my bag stolen. I've been extremely lucky thus far considering I can be careless while out at bars - I tend to put my things down and forget about them and I may have thrown a phone or two into oblivion on a tipsy walk home, but I've always managed to come out without much damage. Not anymore apparently.

Last weekend I was fist pumping away to Pauly D's spins with my Snooki poof and JWoww dress at Sutton Place (yep, I really did that - check out my quote and pic here) and some GRIMY GUIDETTE stole my bag!! My expensive, favorite Botkier bag with all my belongings inside including nice digital camera, wallet with license and credit cards and apt/car keys. Miraculously I still have my phone. One second the bag was with me, the next it was gone. I must've been beatin' up the beat while texting, because there's no other explanation for me to have my phone and nothing else (hooray for multi-tasking!). Searched the bar, called the bar next day, filed a police report, posted a message on Craig's List...nothing. Tried tracking down my last remaining spare car key to no avail. I am now replacing door locks, car locks, credit cards, insurance cards, and sending away for a new license - not fun.

Game-changer. It's time I quit trusting people and became a full-blown skeptical, paranoid New Yorker. How am I going to change? Ohh let me count the ways.

1. No more expensive bags. If I'm only 24 and can barely afford my rent, I have no business carrying a bag that's over $100. Nuff said. For now, I'm relying on Urban Outfitters and sites like Lulus for trendy and not terribly cheap looking bags. And when I go out? Wristlets and bags somehow attached to my body only.

2. No more cameras in bars. Do I think I look good in drunk pictures? Because I don't. There's no need for me to take an expensive camera when I go out. I hate posting pictures on Facebook anyway. I'll leave the photography and bad pictures to someone else.

3. Multiple spare keys left in multiple places. And they need to live near me. Getting a key mailed from another state takes far too long and I've racked up way too many tickets. Thanks alternate-side parking laws!

4. Only one credit card and $40 max are allowed to come with me to a bar. I didn't have much cash on me when the bag was stolen, but seriously all my credit cards? What was I thinking? Canceling 3 credit cards and a debit card is a-nnoy-ing.

5. Time to become a NY resident. I'm sick of mailing PennDOT money and waiting weeks for a new, valid license every time I'm up for renewel/I lose it. Over it. I hate my latest PA driver's license picture anyway and I'm ready to quit paying double state taxes.

My 25th birthday is in exactly a month. Guess it's time I reel it in and man up to responsibility. Oy, wish me luck.

No Longer an At-Home Hair Color Virgin!

As a beauty publicist, it almost pains me to begin this post with an economic tie-in (kind of beating a dead horse at this point). But yet I'm doing it anyway...

Everyone is penny-pinching these days, and I suppose I'm no different. I'm packing lunches (gag... sandwiches get soggy by lunchtime!), doing my own mani/pedis and last week I even dyed my own hair!

I admit I've been a hair color snob in the past. I don't put color on my hair very often, but if I'm going to do it, I do it right and go to the specialists. No way I want to chance screwing up my hair with scary color-altering chemicals!! Sure I know plentyyy of people that have had great results with at-home color, but I never had the desire to go there.

Well, bored with my hair and in the mood for a change, I polled my friends to find the best/cheapest salons in the city for lowlights. At $100 or more, that simply was NOT happening right now. So, I decided to go for it. I researched a little online and bought my first box hair dye: L'Oreal Color Spa Moisture Actif in Medium Ash Brown 20.

The results? I love it! It was just the change and color boost I needed. I chose a demi-permanent, so it will wash out in about 28 shampoos in case I get sick of it, and it's ammonia-free so it won't damage my hair. Since I have light brown hair naturally, I stuck to one shade darker in an ash tone to eliminate any uber shocking color or potential brassiness.

I'm a changed woman and no longer afraid of a $7 boxed color lift. What do you think??

The Aftermath - One Year Post-France

When I was growing up, my mom would give my brother and I one new ornament for the tree each Christmas Eve. The ornament would somehow symbolize the year - a posing Marilyn Monroe the year I fell in love and decided I wanted to be an actress, a shamrock the year I began Irish step dancing, a singing Frank Sinatra the year I came to NY for school...you get the point. Each year has a focal point when you look back.

In 2008, I realized that I didn't need to depend on anyone other than myself. I saw my need for independence and escape, and fulfilled my dream of living in France.

On this exact date one year ago, I spent the afternoon exploring the Marais neighborhood of Paris with an American expat friend - eating amazing falafel, shopping and enjoying happy hour Caipirinhas while discussing the quirks of European men...

Leaving my job last September to live in France for two months by myself was the experience of a lifetime. I got to be adventurous, practiced the language everywhere I went, didn't answer to anyone, and spent each day doing whatever the heck I wanted. I can't believe it's been a year.

Objectively, my life seems a lot more boring nowadays. Today, September 23, 2009, I rolled out of bed to my alarm at 7:45am, headed to work in the office for the day, and came home to watch the season premieres on TV with my best friend/puppy dog Marlon.

I'm kind of okay with it, though. My life has a calm rhythm most days. And, even though I'm not much of a jetsetter, a lot happened in '09. I began volunteering with a pug rescue group, adopted my first dog, found a new job with coworkers and clients I love, and moved into my very first studio apartment (as in no roommates - just me!) in a brand new neighborhood of New York.

2009 has had a different purpose - this year I became a grown ass lady. I took initiative and created a career and life of my own in NY. I took responsibility for something other than myself and became a mom...even if just to a 20 pound snorting pug. :)

That being said, I'm fairly certain I'm getting either a pug or house ornament this Christmas. Good ol' mom.