Giving Fragrance with Ralph Lauren

Scents are a pretty fascinating thing - they can transport you to a certain place, a particular moment in your past or bring back feelings of when you last wore it. 

Because of this, my friends and I have a tradition. It started when I got engaged. After my bridesmaids and I did the gown fitting, we all went out for dinner and shopping afterwards. Seems normal enough. But during dessert, the girls told me that we’d be picking out my wedding perfume that evening together!

“Your wedding perfume,” they instructed, “is only to be worn on your honeymoon and anniversary…so when you smell it, it’ll bring back all those memories.”

We hopped around to a few department stores before heading into the Ralph Lauren shop at Tysons Galleria. Immediately I was drawn to this adorable heart shaped bottle, and when I smelled it, I KNEW it was going to be MY scent. I still have the photo of me and my girls in front of Ralph Lauren, holding my special perfume. Now every time I go on a special vacation or our anniversary rolls around, I spritz a little perfume on my outfit and a little on my neck, behind my ears and a TAD bit in my hair. 

Picking out my perfume with my best girls was such a fun memory and such a neat idea that we’ve been doing it for our engaged friends ever since! 

So for the holidays this year, I decided to bring back that feeling of having a special scent for certain times of the year - anniversary or not! Being married doesn’t get to take the monopoly on fun ideas! So I decided to gift a few of my best girls with their own special scents from Ralph Lauren. 

Sometimes gifting fragrance can be risky, but this perfect little trio is a crowd pleaser - I wanted to keep each one for myself. They’re the perfect size for traveling too…A perfect choice for my jet-setting babes! I can’t wait for them to open them on Christmas morning and have their own special scents to make memories with! 

Do you have a special kind of gift you love giving the girls in your life? If you can’t decide, I’d highly recommend this set of three or shop them all individually below!
Shop Romance // Shop Tender Romance // Shop Midnight Romance

This post was done in partnership with Ralph Lauren. Thanks for supporting the brands that keep It's Julien up and running!

The Perfect Holiday Playlist

As we all finish up wrapping those last-minute gifts, baking our favorite recipes and spending time with the ones we love, here's a little playlist of my favorite holiday tunes. Merry Christmas Eve, friends!

Holiday Snaps

I've been pretty quite over here since Christmas, so I wanted to fill you in on a few fun things that happened over the holiday!

Before we left on our 9-hour journey to our Greek family-filled trip to Boston on Christmas Eve, I cooked a fancy little dinner for the hubby and me. We decided to celebrate together early, since we wouldn't be alone for much of the trip ahead. I made this amazing Kale Gratin, North Dakota potatoes (need to share this receipt with you sometime), roasted beets, french bread, and baked goat cheese. We opened presents afterwards and watched Elf to finish off the night.

The next day, we traveled up to Boston via car. Boy is that a drive. Once we arrived, we were greeted with great food, too much wine, and lots of family time. We visited a local winery, brunched at the Wayside Inn, explored the Harvard area, and watched Love Actually. Twice. 

Although I'm terribly sad the holidays are just about over, I'm also a bit relieved. This year I was quite the grinch. Maybe it was about resenting the pressure that's put on all of us to look just right, decorate just right and buy just the right gifts this year. Maybe I was broken hearted that my sister had to work over the holidays instead of being with her big sister, just like old times. Maybe I was upset with the lack of resolution from Serial's last episode. Maybe the winter blues are setting in early. Did anyone else feel this way?