Foodie Sunday: I feel pretty!

By Beth This week was one of the best weeks of my life as I continued on my cleanse, revitalized many friendships old and new, learned to use ALL of the scary machines in the gym and excitedly enrolled back into college where I'll come out a few years from now with the title of Medical Herbalist! So what does a perfumista like me do to celebrate? Well no one knows how to do that better than my dear friend Barbara Fairbanks. Upon my arrival at her lovely home yesterday she announced that we were going to Sak's this morning for a "Day of beauty"! Ok I thought, how much fun is that! We walked in and were immediately offered mimosa's, coffee and sent to a lavish breakfast buffet of fruit and beautiful muffins. Then the real fun began as we went from station to station! First we went to Bobbi Brown to learn how to moisturizer our eyes and reduce puffiness and then we went to the MAC counter where I learned to line the inner lid of my eye which is really a fabulous look if you've never tried it! Next we were off to the Kiehls and La Prairie counters for demonstrations of more skin care and lots of samples and then over to Bond 9 and Estée Lauder where I made a delightful new friend named Robert Crouch who is the seriously knowledgeable Bond 9 manager at the Columbus SAKs Fifth Avenue. After all of the fun at Bond 9 We ended our journey at Laura Mercier and Creed. That's where the real fun began. My friend Barbara is no slouch in the fashion department and her signature perfume , Hermes 24 Faubourg is one of my favorites. That being said I was determined to get her to try something new and I marched her reluctantly to the Creed counter where the lovely SA spread a plethora of fragrance blotters out for us to enjoy. At first I could sense my pals reluctance to topple the magic of her beloved Hermes' but very quickly she was intrigued. We smelled everything but in the end she was captivated by Creeds Royal Water, a really delightful and refreshing blend of citrus ,basil and peppermint ! Then it was off to Penhaligon's , a line that she'd never known of and there she fell in love with their Sartorialist and ended up buying two adorable little sample packs so that she can get to know this wonderful English line of fragrance in the privacy of her own home! We had a marvelous time laughing , sniffing and trying the latest skin care products and just generally sharing each others good company. She wasn't alone though, and you my dear readers know that I couldn't possibly walk out without several purchases of my own. Sadly, I left the 650.00 indigo blue Jimmy Choo's on the shelf where they were winking at me, but I left with a bottle of Diorissimo Parfum and Eton Johns utterly enchanting candle from Nest, a lovely gossamer thing completely drenched with Tuberose and spicy Stargazer lilies. I was on my way out when I reached my hand to my face and a beautiful spicy scent filled my nostrils. The scent of Penhaligon's surreally beautiful Spice and Lilies fragrance is simply lovely and I'd neglected to take it seriously when I first spritzed it on my skin. However in an matter of moments it had changed into a sweet honeyed scent full of spice, citrus and fleshy white florals. If you haven't tried this one yet please give it a sniff. It's going to be a perfect summer " lounging in the hammock" fragrance! We ended the morning with lots more laughter and more than enough samples to keep us busy for weeks! Tonight it's out for lobster, chocolate martinis and to celebrate yet another of our oldest friendships, accomplishments old and new and a happy weeks end. So tell me, what's your favorite way to celebrate your life's little milestones? Happy Foodie Sunday my dear friends and I'll see you very soon! Is it me or is it starting to feel a little bit like the wheel of the year is moving towards spring?