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!

Each year, our family gets together at my hub’s grandparent’s home for a Memorial Day picnic. I love going ‘down to the valley,’ as we say, for many reasons. I love the memories I have of rafting down the river, backroad motorcycle rides and most of all, falling in love.

I remember when Shawn and I were about to graduate high school together. We only recently started dating, but had been good friends for years. He picked me up one evening from the dorms (we went to boarding school) and drove me to an open field. He had brought a picnic blanket and juices for us (we were so innocent), and as we lay there, we stared up at the stars for what seemed like hours.

“I have something for you,” Shawn said after a while.

He told me to close my eyes and open my hands and in them, he placed a little blue box. I opened the box and inside was the MOST darling little charm bracelet (seen below.) It was filled with nautical charms (my favorite, obvi.) He told me that his brother used to give his (now) wife charms for her bracelet each year…and in that moment, our lives changed forever. Ehh okay so I'm a bit dramatic - what can I say, I'm a hopeless romantic!

Speaking of romantic, I opted for a messy fishtail braid for the latest side-by-side challenge - check out these braided beauties below for more inspiration!

Click the name to see more!   Amanda // Jennie // Jill // Lisa // Jen // Kristyn // Marissa — Click the name to see more! Amanda // Jennie // Jill // Lisa // Jen // Kristyn // Marissa

On Julien: Dress, Ralph Lauren (similar here.) Shoes, Crown Vintage. Charm bracelet, Tiffany & Co (similar here.) Earrings, Julie Vos (similar here.) Sunnies, Michael Kors.