The Friday Forum - June 6

My Catalpa tree picked its own space out front. I didn't want it in a daylily bed, so I kept cutting it down. It refused to die. Finally, I realized it was a message from Mother Nature that it was going to grow there, so I let it grow. It is now about 30 feet tall (maybe taller), and I enjoy its fragrant spring blooms.

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings of Allied troops in Normandy, the largest amphibious invasion in history and the turning point in World War II - one that will never be underestimated. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the Allied invasion of German-occupied Western Europe, led to the restoration of the French Republic, and contributed to an Allied victory in the war. The operation gained a foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day were around 1,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 12,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead - out of 160,000 troops. However, the operation was eventually a success, denying German forces their Atlantic Wall along the French coast. Several times in the last week, I've seen a survivor of the operation describe the operation and the sheer horror of seeing his fellow service men cut down on all sides of him while they were storming onto the beach. It makes me cry to think of the dramatic, bloody conflict. Today, museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area host many visitors each year, especially in June, to commemorate the defeat of an evil force. There are many events today - even in my area.

This week flew by. Today, I am enjoying the luxury of working from home. When I finish, I am going to open boxes that have arrived over the last few weeks - yes weeks! My hallway downstairs looks like a storeroom. With the sun out, I should be able to get lots of beauty photos this weekend!

Charlie is a little annoyed with me at the moment because I took the desk chair. I was willing to share it with him, but he probably figured I'd sit on him. He left. I think he's in the bedroom sulking.

Here are some beauty shorts from the week - most from WWD. We need to stay up on the news.

• Estée Lauder is expanding in the U.K.
• TSG Consumer Partners sold its stake in Perricone MD to Lion Capital. Remember I mentioned Perricone was being shopped?
• Get ready for another luxury beauty brand. The Gucci Cosmetics range, set to bow internationally in September, will offer eye, face, lip, nail and skin preparation products that echo its fashion. The cosmetics range will be fronted by Charlotte Casiraghi in an advertising campaign in print, on TV, and across the Web.
• Fragrance pioneer Frédéric Malle has married his twin passions for perfume and architecture with the opening of his second New York store today in the West Village. Will he ever come to DC? He is also launching a new fragrance - one I've anticipated for a year - called Eau de Magnolia.
• Burberry is planning a skin-care line.
• On July 15, Clinique will launch its Smart Custom-Repair Serum, which is positioned as a new generation of skin-care product that is said to be so smart it can zero in on someone’s skin problems like a custom-made product.
• Neiman Marcus' Camp Gorgeous event is underway. Make sure to stock up on your essentials or find some new treasures so that you can get the GWP bag. Need help? Call Michael Reinhardt at (202) 966-9700, extension 2258.

By now, I'm sure e-mail subscribers have noticed that I am using FeedBlitz to publish my e-mails, and we are back on track. I have been surprised at how many people have unsubscribed, but I wonder if some of them had subscribed, but never validated with Google. I've never understood that. Those notices make me a little sad. Just as quickly as I get unsubscribe notices, I am receiving happy, new subscriber notices, and I am assuming that many of them are the 2014 subscribers I lost when Feedburner deleted my files. This change has left me a little frazzled, but I'm thrilled with the excellent service I'm getting from the FeedBlitz folks. I have to move my Feeds next.

I was even surprised to see that my Twitter feed had disappeared from my blog. I have no idea when that happened! Maybe I need to scan more often. Anyhow, I restored the widget, so you can see my latest tweets again.

It's time for the Friday Forum. I love this part of our week. What new products did you discover this week? Did you find any deals you couldn't resist? Are you using a fabulous product and want to sing its praises? Did you find a beauty product disappointing? Do you have a question others might be able to answer? Want to talk about skin care? What's new in your life? Just use the comments. Don't be shy. Just make sure to ask any question you might have over the weekend. By early the next week, most (not all) readers will have moved on.

Update from the New York Post: 

One million red rose petals will rain down on the Statue of Liberty during a ceremony honoring the 70th anniversary of ­D-Day today. During the spectacular tribute, a French group will unleash the flower shower from three helicopters to commemorate the fateful day Allied troops landed on the shores of Normandy, on June 6, 1944.

“It’s a powerful symbol. We want to show appreciation,” said Rod Kukurudz, of The French Will Never Forget, which is staging the ceremony. “If it weren’t for the sacrifices, heroism, and courage of all American solders killed in Normandy, who knows where France, or the world, would be now.” The nonprofit worked with state officials and the US Coast Guard and spent roughly $100,000 to stage the event, he said. It also hired workers to count and refrigerate the petals, which weigh 1,200 pounds, Kukurudz said.

After the flurry of flowers, 13 World War II veterans will be honored at a ceremony and reception on Liberty Island. Two 60-by-30-foot flags - one French, one American - will be displayed at the foot of Lady Liberty. Meanwhile, 18 world leaders — including President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Russian President Vladimir Putin — will gather in Normandy to honor the anniversary. Obama on Friday will meet with French President François Hollande for a service at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, where 9,387 US soldiers are buried. He will also attend a ceremony at Sword Beach, the patch of sand where hundreds of American soldiers died.

World War II vets who survived the historic assault called the anniversary a special day. “There isn’t a day that has gone by in my life where I haven’t thought about something that went on over there,” said Rocco Moretto, 89, who survived the invasion at Omaha Beach. “On D-Day, I pinched myself several times, hoping I would wake up, but I never woke up. We saw things you never saw before, people dying in so many different ways. Stuff that you can’t imagine,” said Moretto, who lived in Hell’s Kitchen until he was drafted into the Army’s 1st Infantry Division at age 18. “As soon as I hit the beach, there were about 12 guys dead or dying. There was people drowning. The water was red with soldiers’ blood. Incidentally, I wasn’t afraid of artillery anymore. I was afraid of drowning. That thought was going around my mind,” he recalled. “All the anniversaries and, in fact, every day of my life, I’ve thought of my buddies [who died]. They were just fantastic people. I don’t know who assembled all those great men and put them in one place. I’ve thought of them throughout the 70 years.”

Nearly 160,000 Allied troops stormed five beaches in northern France on June 6, 1944 to begin the downfall of Nazi Germany. D-day was the biggest sea-based military invasion in history.

Update: The rose petals - how moving!

 Photos by Best Things in Beauty and courtesy of Wikipedia and Mashable