etsy // OF VANITY

i am now officially an etsy store owner! as of last night, actually. i've filled my store, OF VANITY, with glassware, vases and other beautiful pieces meant for creating the perfect vanity table. as i wrote in my etsy bio:

for as long as i can remember, i've been enamored with makeup and fragrance. and i can't remember a time where i haven't created a distinct space to display all of my favorites. from antique stores in manhattan and vermont to vintage markets in italy and france, i've scoured these shops to put together a collection of treasures.

vanity tables have always fascinated me. a place in your home that channels and inspires beauty. though ever-changing, this a photo of my vanity table right now:

it's certainly morphed over the years, with each apartment i've lived in, but has always taken on a vintage, feminine, floral, pastel-hued form.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/OFVANITY

the laundry

if you really want to indulge, go out there and get yourself a bottle of le labo's rose 31 detergent. it is beyond divine and it will make wearing a white tee, slipping into sheets, drying off with a towel, etc. more lovely than you could ever imagine. trust me. 

my mother has been using this stuff for years, so whenever i travel back to connecticut, i am overly eager to bring my laundry along with me. but this weekend, she got me a bottle of my very own (merci, merci, merci!), so i guess this means i can pack a bit lighter from now on for a weekend home.

eau please

right now, it is less about buying new than it is about replacing the old:

santa maria novella mughetto
penhaligon's artemisia
anna sui sui dreams
cacharel scarlett
curious britney spears (my not-so-secret favorite)

hint, hint/help!

sweetly

i am twenty five.

bit bit

of all the fancy fragrances i have, i still have a special place in my heart for curious by britney spears.

N°5

what is more classic than advertising at a bus stop?

margaretha

escada margaretha ley

i found the bottle today at housing works on crosby street. regal, no?  empty. another jewel for my vanity.

polaroid

i went to a fragrance launch party last night at the gansevoort park avenue and they doled out polaroid cameras to have a bit of fun with.


brilliant!

mags

the massive magazine shop on 40th street between 5th and 6th has the distinct smell of the scholastic book-fair that used to pop up in my elementary school each year. + all of the excitement.

lavender

on sleepy days like this, i dream of the day i spent in a lavender field this summer in norfolk, england.

fields and fields of the most beautiful shade of purple. and, of course, the fragrance of the flowers! i took a few stalks of lavender and lavandin back to new york with me and they smell exactly how they did as when i gathered them in july. 

first job, first year

emily and i sat on my bed last tuesday night and i couldn't help but get a weird and dreamy feeling about all this year has been for me.

january fifth of last year was the first day of my first job. i can't believe it has already been one year. i think back on how much i have learned since then and all of the wonderful things i have experienced. like being part of the creation of a new fragrance and traveling to europe for it's launch and having meetings with perfumers and making presentations. i only know that my knowledge will continue to grow. it really is wildly thrilling to think of the future.

the first day of work, my boss told me that this job is a learning experience, a chance for me to figure out just what i want to do in the fragrance industry. i am forever grateful for this. i am just starting to figure out what it is that i want to do. i sincerely feel that i am building a strong foundation for the future, and that is a true gift. i still feel like this is the very, very beginning. i am so lucky to work for such a wonderful company that i am so proud of and lets me explore.

i am endlessly appreciative.

fir

every few blocks up sixth avenue, christmas trees are being sold on the sidewalk. i love walking through these fifteen feet of temporary city-forests. that smell of balsam. brisk, sparkling, winter. i have a perpetual soundtrack of bing crosby holiday songs gliding through my mind.

and though my new york apartment seems far too small for even the smallest of trees, i will always remember my house in vermont with my lovely friends, and how each year we had our own beautifully decorated tree in our living room, fondly.

the street

new york city streets contain every scent imaginable.
some smells are certainly more pleasant than others.

my favorites; fresh bakery bread, a few seconds of an opened-door nail salon, the fresh and fluffy fragrance from passing by an apartment building's laundry room dryer vent, the horse and carriages of central park, burning nag champa from the woman selling incense in front of the w4 subway station.

but none are more wondrous to me than the saccharine scent of nuts 4 nuts on a chilly, autumn night.

vanity

is there anything more perfect than a vanity tray of your loveliest fragrances?

venus

in college, my focus was in women and gender studies.

i had that perfect college experience within this area. intense, intelligent and inspiring professors and equally passionate peers. i became involved on campus and in the community. i planned to graduate, move to georgia and work for a non-profit that dealt with women’s issues. (preferably the girl scouts!)

but i have to admit, i was feeling burnt out. things didn’t affect me the way that they used to. i would not say i was losing speed, but i was becoming a bit numb to it all.

was this the way to begin my next chapter?

after a turn of events, i then completely changed my direction.

thanks to my mom, laura tonatto and sandro botticelli.

i was in italy shortly after graduating.while there, i smelled a fragrance that laura tonatto had created using the flowers painted in botticelli's the birth of venus.

painting: eyes :: fragrance: nose! and the stories behind the fragrances! and the memories they can conjure up! what a beautiful thing!

a few months after this trip, I was talking to annie at four in the morning and i had another one of those realizations…

why not pursue exactly what i wanted to do?

and so I did.

i now have a job at an extraordinary fragrance company and among the (massive) clutter surrounding my office desk, hangs my botticelli print acquired at the uffizi gift shop.

and the statue (costing all of 11 euros from a street vendor) is still one of my favorite purchases.