Journal

265 Lafayette Street New York City front door 2026

The Homecoming

After the fragrance houses, two doorways. 265 Lafayette in 1993 and 123 Avenue A in 2016 — a life in New York, revisited. The route home to Sonoma County, and...

The Homecoming

After the fragrance houses, two doorways. 265 Lafayette in 1993 and 123 Avenue A in 2016 — a life in New York, revisited. The route home to Sonoma County, and...

Stephanie with candle display in Le Labo Bleeker Street

Inside the Maisons

Three rooms in New York where someone came out to meet me. Le Labo, Diptyque, Santa Maria Novella — 2006, 1961, and 1221. Three different centuries of legacy, three different...

Inside the Maisons

Three rooms in New York where someone came out to meet me. Le Labo, Diptyque, Santa Maria Novella — 2006, 1961, and 1221. Three different centuries of legacy, three different...

Jones Road Makeup Artist looking at Duncans Mills Candle Co. fragrant candles.

The Return

Two days in New York, sixteen fragrance houses, and the city itself — my first love. A young makeup artist at Jones Road studied my candles before I'd seen a...

The Return

Two days in New York, sixteen fragrance houses, and the city itself — my first love. A young makeup artist at Jones Road studied my candles before I'd seen a...

Woman smelling fragrance oil in an Egyptian perfumery.

What a Sommelier Knows About Memory

A single inhale can return you, in full color, to a moment you didn't know you still had. A grandmother's kitchen. A hotel hallway. Someone you loved twenty years ago....

What a Sommelier Knows About Memory

A single inhale can return you, in full color, to a moment you didn't know you still had. A grandmother's kitchen. A hotel hallway. Someone you loved twenty years ago....

Stephanie sitting with head against column in Egyptian temple.

What I Brought Back

The hour against a column at Edfu. The guides who recognized something in me before I had words for it. What I carried home — and where it shows up...

What I Brought Back

The hour against a column at Edfu. The guides who recognized something in me before I had words for it. What I carried home — and where it shows up...

Row of five Signature Cafe Glass candles on a wooden table in a rustic barn in wine country.

How to Build a Home Like a Sommelier Builds a W...

Most people don't compose their home's fragrance. They smell something they like, take it home, burn it in whatever room is closest to the door — and wonder why it...

How to Build a Home Like a Sommelier Builds a W...

Most people don't compose their home's fragrance. They smell something they like, take it home, burn it in whatever room is closest to the door — and wonder why it...