Seven Things You Didn't Know About Roses

Did You Know?

France and the United States share a passion for roses. Here are some facts about roses in the U.S. and in France

• If you read the book the Da Vinci Code, (a popular novel in the U.S. that takes place partly in Paris) you know that roses are always based on a five-point structure, no matter how many petals they have.
• In 1986, then President Ronald Reagan signed legislation making the rose the official National Flower of the United States.
• Roses have been grown in France since the 13th Century, and were brought there from the Holy Land during the Crusades. (That first rose was of the Damask variety - great for perfume!)
• George Washington experimented with new hybrids of roses at his home in Mount Vernon.
• The Empress Josephine (the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte) was a famous grower and collector of new species of roses. Despite her husband's war with the English, she was able to import some new varieties that had not been grown before in France. She popularized rose gardening throughout France.
• Over 900 acres of greenhouse roses are harvested in the United States every year.
• Columbus' crew picked a rose branch out of the ocean on October 11, 1492. This signaled the presence of land. The very next day, Columbus discovered America

We've found some of the best fragrances from France that feature the scent of roses, and put them into a gorgeous sampler that will make a great gift for yourself or for someone special!

The sampler will still be available, but the free gift (a full size Shalimar scented body lotion) is only available through the end of June, so hurry!

The False Economy of Settling for Less

American women who settle for less than what they really want aren't doing themselves (or anyone else) any favors.

American women fall for eating Hostess or Snackwell cakes (which they perceive to be cheaper and/or healthier) when they really want an indulgent brownie made with real butter, real sugar, and real dark chocolate. The problem with this is that one of those little cakes is never enough. (Believe me, I've tried, and ended up eating half a box!)

Mireille Guiliano expressed this concept very well in her book, French Women Don't Get Fat

The premise of her book is that American women, in particular, need to slow down, acknowledge their needs, ask for what they really want, and indulge occasionally without making everything a to-the-death fight between puritanical self-sacrifice vs. overindulgence. This should be a balance, not a battle. Our little treats should make us feel great, not guilt-ridden!

If you go for quality rather than quantity, you can enjoy your occasional, small, exquisite, real brownie with a clear conscience.

The same goes for clothes - we American women tend to go to the Outlet Stores and armloads of "suitable" or "practical" clothes at 70% of retail, rather than that one really well-made, high-quality, perfect-for-you suit that you can have tailored with the money you saved from your outlet shopping trip. The women getting back from the Outlet malls now have a closet full of stuff, but nothing to wear, while the women who bought the suit she feels marvelous in can wear it anywhere with a slight change of accessories and feel really great about how she looks.

American women have gotten too used to settling. It's okay to buy eat a great brownie, buy a great suit, and really enjoy life. It's taken me awhile to come to this conclusion.

If you go for quality rather than quantity, you won't feel the need to eat 12 brownies (vs. a week of Slimfast bars and water for lunch) or to go on a huge shopping binge (vs. pinching pennies for months at a time.) If you stay balanced, you don't need to battle. And you have better things to spend your energy on!

AUTHOR:	Jessie Belle Rittenhouse (1869–1948)
QUOTATION:	I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store; For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, But once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task. I worked for a menial’s hire, Only to learn, dismayed, That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have paid.

In the words of the L'Oreal (Paris, of course) ads, "You're Worth It!"

Ahhh, Roses!

Not long after John and I started dating, he showed up at my door one evening with a bundle of thorny sticks with dirt and burlap.

He had that expression on his face that my cat sometimes gets when she's extremely pleased with herself, so I knew there had to be more to this than a bundle of sticks with dirt and burlap.

Well, I planted that bundle of sticks in a whiskey barrel and it turned into a beautiful red Mr. Lincoln rose that has bloomed more magnificently every year since then, and has followed us to our new house, where it has been joined by 5 other Mr. Lincoln roses that line our sidewalk strip. I have a vase of roses on my desk nearly every day from June until it freezes every year.

So, things are not always what they seem and roses are definitely more than they appear.

In the Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown explores the geometry of roses as a five-pointed star multiplied a number of times. All roses have a petal structure that opens from this structure. (If you look at a rose, you'll see that they have five sepals, or green leaflike parts that cover the bud when it's new. These sepals open to reveal the eventual structure.) Although some roses seem to go on forever and have an infinite number of petals, they all multiply (or divide) down to this simple five-point structure.

The scent of roses is unmistakable. The next few posts will be devoted to our favorite "rosy" fragrances.

A Sommelier of Fragrance

Our idea, when starting West of Paris, was to be a plain-language sommelier of French perfume.

According to wikipedia -

A sommelier (pronounced /sɔməˈlje/ or suh-mal-'yAy), or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, commonly working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all facets of wine service. The role is more specialized and informed than that of a wine waiter.

Their principal work is in the area of wine procurement, storage, and wine cellar rotation. They are also responsible for the development of wine lists and are responsible overall for the delivery of wine service and training for the other restaurant staff. Working along with the culinary team, they pair and suggest wines that will best complement each particular food menu item. It could be argued that the role of a sommelier in fine dining today is strategically on par with that of the executive chef or chef de cuisine. A professional sommelier also works on the floor of the restaurant and is in direct contact with restaurant patrons. The sommelier has a responsibility to work within the taste preference and budget parameters of the patron.

In modern times, a sommelier's role is considered much broader than working only with the wines, and must encompass all aspects of the service, with an enhanced focus on wines, beers, spirits, soft-drinks, cocktails, mineral-waters and tobaccos.

We had a great sommelier for our wedding at LaCaille, a restaurant up Little Cottonwood Canyon outside of Salt Lake City. We knew nothing about wine. Our sommelier helped us find good pairings with the selections on the dinner menu. He based his advice on three things

• The occasion (A May wedding with a full dinner, followed by ballroom dancing)
  
• Our preferences (my preference for sweet, sparkly stuff and John's preference for less sweet and less sparkly)
  
• Our budget.
  

Within those parameters, he found the perfect things for us. And we had a great time.

My intention is to become an online sommelier of fragrance - to help people find what they're looking for based on

• The occasion
• The customer's preferences for particular fragrance notes (such as citrus, vanilla or patchouli)
  
• The customer's preference for particular forms of fragrance, like eau de toilette (EDT) vs. pure perfume vs. other things like shower gels, body lotions and talcs
• The budget

My objective is to help a person who visits our website find the perfect thing based on those factors.

I wanted to help people like me.

My experience with French perfume until my trip to Paris, and subsequent research was very limited. I live in Tooele, Utah. We don't even have a full-service department store with a perfume counter!

I knew a very few perfumes that I loved - generally ones that are easy to get in the U.S. I've loved Opium and Tabu for as long as I can remember, since I first smelled them on aunts and older cousins, and received them as presents and used them myself.

But I also didn't want to smell like everyone else, and wanted to move a bit beyond what you find at Wal-Mart.

I don't speak much French (all the French I know comes from reading the tourist guides, and a Rosetta Stone program that I keep starting over because I've forgotten the last chapter.) But I've spent the last few months researching fragrances, buying and smelling things, (it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!) and creating a search feature (with John's help) that lists key words.

We have a way to go, but so far, I think we still have the easiest-to-use French perfume shop online that I've ever seen!