One of my favorite things to do when I travel to a new city or country is to buy a fragrance there.  I wear the fragrance while I’m there, and when I get back home, the fragrance will always remind me of that place, and that time in my life.  Marc Jacobs will always be New York to me.  Banana Republic W takes me back to Napa Valley. Narcisco Rodgriguez is quintessential, summery Rome.

Les Exclusifs de Chanel---Gardenia

When the Bean was 10 weeks old, we took him to Paris.  In Paris, naturally, I went to Chanel, and I bought some gorgeous lipstick and one of the Exclusifs de Chanel scents (Gardenia).  I’m wearing it today, and even though it’s snowy and cold here, I am transported to April in Paris in my mind.  Lovely.

I will never forget that trip.  I was a new mother, exhausted and crabby, but being in Paris was a breath of fresh air for me and for my marriage.  We wandered the streets together, as a little family, and drank in the joyful mood of Paris in early springtime.  I’d love to go back, and until that happens, I’ll just re-visit that place (that lovely, wonderful place) in my mind, via the scent of gardenias on my wrists.