* Chic Provence *: 07/01/2011

23 July 2011

Wish. Me. Luck. :)

This week could hardly be more complicated... or exciting! Next Saturday is my daughter Lisa's wedding! And Friday, the rehearsal dinner is chez nous, in the garden. If you read my last post, you know that the pool failed a few weeks ago, which triggered a complete re-do of the entire backyard. Here we are six days out, and it looks like this:

I thought the guys left their things arranged very

nicely into a kind of "Still Life with Mortar" arrangement!

once not too long ago this was my little

"potager", or kitchen garden, planted with

herbs such as chocolate mint and lemongrass!

But we must keep a sense of wonder and humor about all this... what else can we do? At least the garden, traumatized though it is as it watches the horrors unfold before it's very eyes, is obliging with blooms in spite of being covered with stone dust and being trampled by large boots!

the dahlias are darling

the fuchsia is flourishing

the wisteria is waiting

the montbrescia is marvelous

(if a little dusty!)

I'll certainly be very busy for a few more days now... and will post beautiful photos after the miraculous transformation is completed!

***

thanks for visiting!... Kit

11 July 2011

Breathlessly Catching Up

When your only daughter decides in May that she is getting married in July, even if the wedding is small and in a friend's backyard, it has a way of taking over your life! We are very lucky that she is an event planner and a brilliant caterer and is marrying her business partner! We are of course thrilled for Lisa and Steven and were ecstatic when he proposed to her in Provence this spring!

Of great importance for us Femmes d'un Certain Age is finding the right dress to wear to. And that, dear readers, is no easy task, requiring shopping, fretting, sleepless nights and searching for perfect combination of fit, flatter, fabulous & feasible while striking just the correct note of not trying too hard and certainly letting the beautiful bride be the star of her day.

So...the wedding, along with a huge new client project, a road trip to Portland, Oregon over the 4th (fun!) and a fatal leak in our swimming pool (we are hosting the backyard rehearsal dinner) have kept me very busy and quite distracted from my beloved blogging. I should have been pruning roses and sighing over bridal gowns and tablescape colors! Instead, there is mud everywhere I look and I am working 12 hours a day:)

I am quite certain I now have your complete sympathy!

So yesterday I found the perfect dress. Exhale! I slept soundly last night, knowing all is well! Here's a little peek at the wonderful shop where we... bride, mother of bride and mother of groom... all had a delightful time shopping on a rare sunny summer day in San Francisco!

And today the amazing guys are replacing all the swimming pool plumbing, while we dither over bluestone, grass or a combination to replace the deck around the pool.

And the huge interior design project is blissfully, beautifully nearly finished.

We just might pull this off! Stay tuned!