Mother's Day is Sunday, May 14, and to quote the Manolo...

Yes, you will show up on the Sunday afternoon to take her to the Steakhouse of the Outback for the pseudo-Australian meat-fest and deep-fried onion, but is this the blooming thing that she would really want?

In case brunch won't cut it this year, here are a few fragrance gift ideas. My advice: if you don't know what kinds of perfumes she likes and you don't think she will feel comfortable returning your gift in the event that she hates it, stick to bath & body products or home fragrance. Or, look for a set with more than one fragrance, such as the Sephora gift set shown below — perhaps you'll get lucky and she'll like at least one of the selections included.

The "Fragrance Gift for Her" for $45: 9 fragrance samples (Dior Addict 2, Stella McCartney, Lolita Lempicka, Curious Britney Spears, L'Instant de Guerlain, Marc Jacobs Perfume, Very Irresistible Givenchy, Clean, and Piguet Fracas) plus a gift voucher that can be redeemed for a full size bottle of any one of the scents. There is a similar set available at nordstrom.

Of course, you can also create your own gift set along the same lines by doing a sample order at any of the online boutiques that sell them, and including a gift certificate. Luckyscent has the Hot Pack (see right): samples of 8 of their most popular scents for $20. Also tempting:

The Estee Lauder Pen Pals set, with rollerballs of Beautiful, Pleasures and Beyond Paradise. $39.50 at dillards.

The Susanne Lang Summer Dreams set, marked down to $66.50 at lacremebeauty. Includes Pashmina, Raspberry, Tropical Spice, Coconut, White Chocolate, Vanilla Sugar, Warm Vanilla, Chocolate, and Sweet Vanilla.

And at lafcony, there is a "create your custom gift box" program allowing you to click and drag your selections from the Santa Maria Novella line and have them shipped in a gift box with a personalized card.

More gift ideas coming later in the week...