Relive Your Favorite Vacation

21st Century Insurance has a contest running for people who like their Facebook page. Between now and July 5th, all you need to do to win a $5000 Amex gift card is to answer the question, "My all-time favorite vacation I'd love to relive is...." Fourteen daily winners will receive a $100 Amex gift card.

Easy. I did it. I'd love to relive the vacation I took to Europe back in the 70s. I turned 11 in London, and got to visit Paris as well. I dare say I'd appreciate both cities much more today.

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Gotta Love DL Hughley

In this clip from Bravo's Rocco's Dinner Party, fashion designer Gilles Mendel talks about his business, but the best part of the clip comes when DL Hughley reveals that he loves women who are "built for comfort not for speed."

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Galliano on Trial

Fashion designer John Galliano goes on trial today for making anti-Semitic remarks.

poll by twiigs.com

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Chanel Resort 2012

Sometimes I think people buy Chanel just because of the name. Karl Lagerfeld always has to throw some stuff in makes me go, "hmm," in this collection, that would be the drab gray suit and the hideous knee-peplums. Oh, and those thong boots are hideous.

My favorite look in the collection is in the first photo. Why? Because it could have been taken out of my own wardrobe. I live in 3/4 sleeve boatneck shirts. If you like the look, check out LL Bean - most styles are on sale at the moment.

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Scent of the Day - Maison Francis Kurkdjian Cologne Pour le Matin

When I was a kid, I loved the candy Jujubes. For the uninitiated, they were hard little pellets, about the size of a pencil eraser, that one could chew if one didn't mind picking them out of one's teeth, but were best sucked. My very favorite were the purple ones, which were violet flavored. (Apparently they are grape now, but they still taste like violet to me.)

Cologne Pour le Matin smells to me like purple jujubes, even though violet is not listed as a note. Perhaps it's the combination of citrus, musk, and lavender that tricks my mind, I don't know. What I do know is that I LOVE love love this stuff and am glad it comes in a honking 200ml bottle because I'm going to use a lot of it this long, hot, sweaty summer.

Notes: bergamot, lemon, white thyme, lavender, neroli, musk

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Scent of the Day - L'Artisan Parfumeur Poivre Piquant

This is one of those rare fragrances that I wear all year around. Even though it's warm and milky, with a slight bitterness of licorice (which honestly comes off as being more of a woodsy characteristic), the spark of white pepper keeps it out of the realm of the more sultry gourmands that I usually wear in the colder months.

The scent was created for L'Artisan by Bertrand Duchaufour, the master behind L'Artisan Havana Vanille, Traversée au Bosphore, and Penhaligon's Amaranthine, among other great fragrances.

What are you wearing today?

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Not Too Bad

Alexa Ray Joel is actually a rather attractive young woman...

...even when compared to her mother, Christie Brinkley. Who doesn't even really look like Christie Brinkley anymore.

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Win a Trip to LA and Makeover!

The Runway Your Way Design challenge, led by Michele Bohbot, creator and designer of Bisou Bisou, features student designers from FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising that have been competing against each other to design the perfect runway style for today’s modern woman. Recently, the competition was narrowed down to four finalists and jcpenney needs help choosing which student will win the $2,000 scholarship! When you cast your vote, you will be entered for a chance to win a trip for two to LA, plus shopping and lunch with designer Michele Bohbot, and a head-to-toe makeover from FIDM!

Watch the videos here:

Alyse Guercia from Long Island, NY - http://youtu.be/dSk37lIZQk4

Jenna Goldberg from San Francisco, CA - http://youtu.be/zj5RdfBqQq8

Jenny McClain  - http://youtu.be/2HAlhB_-ox0

Jon Rosario originally from the Philippines - http://youtu.be/BiLpEiS7P8U

And vote for your favorite here: http://www.youtube.com/jcpenney


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Pretty in Pink

Isn't this pink Peruvian opal necklace just perfect for summer? I love that the stone pendant is reminiscent of a minimalist Japanese landscape.

$45, at Etsy.com.

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Obsessed With Orange Blossom

When I was a kid, I received a set of variously floral Tinkerbell fragrances - lily of the valley, apple blossom, rose, and orange blossom. I was most definitely not a fan of floral scents and pretty much hated all of them at first sniff. I really wanted to like the orange blossom, because I loved oranges, but I really couldn't get around the fact that orange blossom really does not smell like the fruit.

Flash forward to the present day. I now love the scent of orange blossoms and perfumes based on that scent. Just goes to show you how tastes can change over the years.

Maison Francis Kurkdjian APOM Pour Femme (orange blossom, ylang-ylang, cedar) was the first scent to start my orange blossom obsession. I like that it's sweet, but not cloying, and not heady, either.

Etat Libre D'Orange Divin'Enfant (orange blossom, marshmallow, rose, mocha accord, leather, amber, musk, tobacco) Divin'Enfant, on the other hand, is rather cloying, but I still love it. I tried it at Sniffapalooza a few years back with a generous spritz on the back of one hand. Both my friend Andrée and I thought it was a mistake for the first hour or so, but then I started to really enjoy it. Hours and hours later, it was less sweet, a bit more ambery, but still very orange blossom-y on my skin.

Most recently, I found Memoire Liquid Soleil Memoire (grapefruit, tangerine, red orange, neroli, sandalwood, white musk) to be my cup of tea. I was going to sniff the whole ML line but only got as far as the first one I picked up. The light and sweet citrus scent with lots of orange blossom is quite refreshing and I have been reaching for it a lot in these suddenly-steamy pre-Summer days.

Do you have a favorite orange blossom scent? Can you recommend more for me to try?

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