BeBe

A baby Shower

It is fascinating how life unfolds and you find out what you love and what you are made to do. Growing up, I remember learning that doctors and lawyers made a lot of money and well-meaning people would tell me that you can be whatever you want when you grow up. So it would make sense that all of us should try and go after those professions that would earn us financial stability. But when you are older, you look back and you realize the things or careers that were never meant to be yours and they are just as telling as the ones that are.

In college, I had an eye-opening conversation with a friend. I told him that while we were chatting away, I was mentally rearranging the furniture in the coffee house and he confided that when he is bored and his mind wanders he dissects the room into measurements and then puts it back together. If you are thinking that I didn’t explain that very well you would be right- to this day, I don’t even know what he meant, only that my brain and his ran on different fuel. It was at that point I realized that maybe we can be whatever we want but perhaps we should not. I want an engineer that daydreams about making bridges to build that bridge and a surgeon that can’t resist troubleshooting how to heal the human body-working on me if ever I should require his services.

I wanted to go to art school and when the Lord closed that door, I ended up with a bachelor’s in Social Work that I used to put my husband through seminary. I wasn’t a very good social worker. My favorite 3 days out of the three years working as social worker were making up food gift baskets to take to clients at Christmas, helping a client buy furnishings when she moved into a new senior housing apartment, and hands down the best day was when I made snowflakes and hung them all around our cubicles. Older me laughs- of course those we the best days-it makes so much sense.

When I was 13, my dad asked for help to throw my mom a surprise 50th birthday. I was besotted with the idea. There was no budget given, just hamburger meat that we would be forming into patties at the neighbor’s house for the backyard cookout he had planned. I remember thinking about how to make things special and in my mind, the party was so grand. I didn’t know the words pipe and drape yet and my no-budget skeleton crew of workers(aka my siblings) were not bringing the vibe I was looking for. I dreamed of a large banner hung between two pine trees that said happy birthday in script fit for a queen. This was the age of print shop and computer paper that you had to tear the edges off of- we didn’t even have a computer, but I knew someone who did. I outsourced the banner job to a kid younger than me and couldn’t wait for him to bring it over. I asked him to make it double wide and instead, I was handed, at the start of the event, a paper banner with the edges still on that had the words happy birthday printed twice. It couldn’t even reach halfway between the trees. I was crestfallen. This would not be the first time my expectations did not meet reality! The party was joyous and I think my mom felt celebrated, but I knew that this fair lady deserved so much more….

This baby shower met my 13 year old and 45 year old expectations! I handled the flowers and the outdoor decor, while the party crew inflated balloons and gussied up the mantle. It was catered, there was a bartender, and even a juggler. Baby chocolate mousse and cakes from Shindigz. Here’s to you Mom and the birthday party I really wanted to throw you! I hope you enjoy the photos! SM

Sometimes photos don’t capture the scale. I thought this might help!

Welcome Bebe!

Now this is an entrance sign!

A LINDEN ROW LOVE STORY

Steve and Linda

These two. They are such a delightful couple and waited 23 long years to tie the knot. What a joy it was to get to be a part of their special day. To see them surrounded by family and friends, enjoying their long-awaited moment was such a gift. Getting to do the flowers was a dream come true!

Linden Row in Richmond, Virginia, is a charming venue for a wedding. It reminds me of an inn we went to in San Francisco on our honeymoon. I love discovering places I’ve never been to in my own city. The brick courtyard has lush trees overhead and a stunning fountain as a focal point. There are alcoves and nooks that host a selection of wrought iron tables and chairs for two.

The photographer sent along some black-and-white photos with the full-color ones and I found myself besotted with the black-and-white versions. Cheers to you Linda and Steve! Without further ado here are the photos!

A special thank you to Amanda Scheffler of Moyer Photography for the beautiful pictures

A Northside Stunner

My favorite yards, hands down, are ones that make thoughtful use of their space and integrate the right amount of hardscaping into the mix. Some people dream of taking over the market with their businesses- I just want to be able to afford hardscaping one day! It makes such a difference in defining spaces. I loved watching this project in the Northside take shape. The pool and hot tub weren’t finished when I started, so it was a fun progression to watch. I got to add planters to soften up the outdoor space and had so much fun filling them up.

A view from the sliding glass doors that lead to the patio.

The outdoor fireplace sends this backyard over the top in my book. Ceiling fans hover when it. is hot and a fire can be made to take off the evening chill.

Outdoor fireplace of my dreams!

Hats off to this homeowner that has babied these planters-they are very happy under her care!

Remembering Abe

November brought the very unexpected passing of a friend. His funeral service was this past weekend and I was honored to get to remember and mark his passing with flowers. His loving wife’s only request was that it would be something to wow Abe! I had such a good time thinking about what would do just that. Abe and Melissa loved to garden together and their peony collection is the finest in Richmond. Not ones to let a good flower go to waste, they rescued many peonies from abandoned places and gave them a new life in their garden. They were some of the first folks we met at Third since Melissa was on the search committee. Abe’s baked spaghetti proceeded him and it did not disappoint. Abe was jolly good fun and a loyal helper to his wife-they did everything together. He would try and make me laugh during church and I will alway hold dear the times we went to Jack Browns with them afterwards for a burger. Abe passed plants to me through Derek at work and they often looked just like buckets of dirt. Derek would say I’m not your drug mule and we would laugh. He would text me and ask if i wanted a plant/or other garden related item to which I would happily say yes only to find out that he asked Tracey Meadows first and that she had first right of refusal for all of the things….each time I would think I was first on that list only to find out that was not the case and I loved to give him a hard time about it. I can’t believe I won’t see him again this side of Heaven. I’m grateful that I knew him and wanted to celebrate the joy he brought to my life and so many others. SM

Provenance

Provenance, I love this word. The idea that everything has a story of origin. It’s part of what makes vintage pieces so charming. You have your story, where you found it, and how you made it yours, and sometimes it comes with a certifiable history, like a great painting or a fully vetted and appraised antique. But most of the time we are left to fill in the blanks of the colorful story of its past with our own imaginations.

My favorite finds are the ones I’m not looking for. The ones that stop me in my tracks and make me question how I lived without them. Sometimes, they end up being just right for a client and sometimes an item picked for a client was always meant to live with me and so it does. Sometimes great purchases allude you, they become the ones that got away.

My favorite store in Charlottesville was Roxie Daisy. I say was because it closed a few years ago after a good run. I’d push my stroller past its partially paper-lined windows as demo crews worked to convert a regular space into something magical. Then the product started showing up. Funky antiques mixed with new curated designs that made for a space I could live in. I was full-on stopping my stroller now to ogle- I even met the shopkeeper Karen and asked her if she needed help unpacking….she graciously declined. My kids were too young to realize that her shop was not the most direct way home and thankfully her candy jar would buy me a few minutes to soak in the beauty before I had to flee the scene because two little boys were about to break her store! She had raised her 2 boys in Richmond, a city, I didn’t know at the time that I would one day live in.

The grand opening proved to be every bit as magical as I suspected. A french bed debuting a line of Bella Notte Linens, found objects from french flea markets, and Lollia lotions and potions. Rustic shelving held cookbooks, dish towels, and funky wooden serving pieces. It was a symphony of delight to help pass those days as a stay-at-home mom that feel so long.

h Around the corner was a nook of lovingly curated children’s items. French mice in matchboxes, felted mobiles, and onesies. Jelly cat stuffed animals filled a vintage Hungarian bathtub. Sugarboo love notes covered the walls and that’s when I realized what was anchoring the whole alcove. A rustic old armoire. One door was left on and the other carefully taken off. It was chippy and not too deep, it had a crystal doorknob, but it was her crown that caught my eye and was unlike any other molding I’d ever seen- a scallop edge molding that besotted me. And it was for sale. A lot of furniture in there started at $1000- but this lovely lady was a fair 795.00- It was just 795.00 that I did not have. So I would visit her in between my stroller jaunts downtown, the after Christmas sale and July sidewalk sale that I marked on my calendar. Some of my most treasured pieces are from that store. Outrageously priced items for my budget became attainable at 75% so now when I pull out my Christmas decorations I’m met with happy purchases that made it to the after Christmas sale.

Lucky for me she looked more like a store fixture and less like a must have furniture item. She quietly stood guard while holding forth items on her shelves. I brought my friends with me on on weekly Friday walks and even discussed with my girl Sylvia how to make the scallop crown molding and attach it to anything. We contemplated who had that skill set as well as a penchant for entertaining crazy women looking to make their dreams come true. We came up empty. Karen would tell me stories about her grown boys that made me hopeful for my own. I chuckled when she said her one son said he liked her style but asked her to never decorate his adult home. Apart from the earlier sales I mentioned, Roxie only had one 20% off sale around Christmas that included the whole store. I may have called to find out if my lovely lady was included.

Thankfully, as things came and went through Roxie’s door, the old armoire stayed. 6 years flew by and when we unexpectedly found ourselves moving to Richmond and with a little extra cash from the sale of our house and a new home to furnish, I plucked up my courage to ask my husband in the midst of an inopportune time if I could go get my girl- a piece of furniture I’d been loving for years that I am not sure I ever mentioned to him, only because there is only so much time for him to take in all my whimsey. He didn’t know I’d been seeing it socially all these years but he very kindly said yes. It was clear it was go time and it just so happened to be 20% off. While people were hob-knobbing at the pre-Christmas holiday gathering- I marched in, pulled her tag, ponied up the money and made her mine for $625. The movers picked her up for me on the way to pack up our house and the rest as they say is history.

Here’s to great finds, pieces that move you and the thrill of the hunt! SM

Newport

This May, right before Memorial Day, I got a dreamy opportunity! My Girl Jennifer Driscoll of Broadview Marketing invited me to do the staging and florals for a marketing photoshoot she had planned in Rhode Island. The client she was arranging the shoot for is Suburban Renewal, a high-end construction company that handles historic renovations, additions, and new construction in the Rhode Island area. Never before have I seen such attention to detail in construction, every tiny detail had been anticipated and planned for. I got the very fun job of adding some icing and sparkle to these very well-built cakes.

Here’s Jennifer, Tetris packing to fit all the staging stuff and succulents in the back of her SUV. She learned her Tetris packing ways from her husband so I like to call her Tetris Jr. The big win was tucking the succulents in the wheel well to maximize space and protect them-bravo Driscolls!

The other main character in this adventure was Nat Rea an exceptional photographer and his assistant Lindsay. Nat is from The UK and has just the understated sense of humor I appreciate. He took these amazing photos that you are about to feast your eyes on and was kind enough to share them with me! I don’t know what kind of wizardry he employs in his craft as he layers various backgrounds over the same image, and uses drones to get these money shots!

Nat and Lindsay

A Historic Renovation and Addition

Photos by the very talented Nat Rea. Know what blew my mind? The mantle in the living room had a giant TV on it that was photo shopped out and this mirror was held up in front of the TV and layered in.

Modern House With Pool

All photos by Nat Rea

Cigar Shack

Photos by Nat Rea

The Exterior of the Builder’s Home

Photos by Nat Rea

I’m used to doing interiors and taking shots to maximize the visual impact of my design, but these shots are all about showing off the beauty of the construction and letting the details exist in the background to please the eye but not steal the show. Here are a few close-ups I took, to give some detail to the areas that I worked on while I was there.

And if ever there was a take away from a project it’s that I NEED this for my schlepping of ALL THE THINGS! It’s a mini truck like in the movie Cars! Just the right size for me! Thanks for following along on my adventure! SM

A Pea Gravel Patio takes shape on Porter

When we got our House on Porter St three and a half years ago, I could not have been more excited to dream about what to do with this beautiful blank canvas. I love that the house has a shed and garage that match the exterior of the house. I started in the back left corner and began tearing out grass and conditioning the soil. It proved difficult and time-consuming as the ground was hard to cultivate since it had some enormous root systems from old trees. It has been slow work. I also had to work around leftover concrete that was meant to allow a car to access the back garage. That impacted where I could add brick or the perimeter of a garden bed. I chose this area because it had full sun and was far enough from the house that I didn’t have to think about it affecting a potential wrap-around porch and screened-in porch that I have been dreaming of.

Fisher really wanted a veggie garden but we waited until our second spring to begin that endeavor. Our dear friend Buck built this raised garden bed for us and it really added a lot of shape to the area. I hired out two local excavators to help with the job!

It wasn’t until the great lockdown of 2020 that I decided to keep tearing out grass and slowly tarping the bare areas with Landscaping plastic. It helped me burn off some of the crazy to have a job that I worked on bit by bit through the uncertain times of the pandemic. I put chairs and a fire pit right on that tarp and pretended like there was a patio already there.

I asked for 8 tons of pea gravel for my birthday, mother’s day, and any other holiday I could think of. And then one fine day it arrived!

I didn’t realize that it was 90 degrees the day that pile was delivered until my neighbor mentioned it. I was so happy I jumped right into shoveling gravel into a wheelbarrow and took what would be the first of many trips to transfer it onto the tarp. I used metal edging to create a firm edge that would help hold the gravel in place. I later added oversized cobblestones to cover the metal edging and give it a more permanent look. I borrowed a tamp from the Lincolns so long Abe said, “keep tamping they will never find the bodies”. Later, I added some oversized pavers to give some stability to the path to the garage and in the area that had the most pea gravel. I ended up tucking some foam-like pavers under some of the gravel in order to level 2 of the chairs. The patio is far from level but the pea gravel is affordable and forgiving. It was a great material for me to use. I keep finding parts of the rubber pavers uncovered but realized that it’s my children that are digging it out! It was a labor of love and one I am delighted to enjoy every day! SM

A Summer Solstice Birthday Celebration

I found out my friend was preparing to have a milestone birthday in the winter when I needed something to look forward to and her June birthday was just the thing! These are my favorite kind of parties to plan. I get to be in charge of the decor and the food is catered! It looks like i might be responsible for some of the food but I assure you that is just not the case.

Ann Horner Truitt and her Plentiful Foods team took this party to the next level with their incredible service and amazing fare. First off, I thought they were just dropping off the food. They showed up with all kinds of delicious foods and went to work making sure we had everything we needed to get that food to the table. They cleaned up my cut flower stems that were all over the floor as I rushed to set things up outside. They put heart-shaped watermelon hearts in all the chilled peach soup bowls and set up a charcuterie station that dressed to impress. I don’t know how they make beef tenderloin so on point every time. Add the horseradish sauce and I’m not convinced there isn’t magic involved! The tomato pie, a new menu item was unbelievable! Think cheese straws but in a crust with tomato goodness on top. It was a generous crust and I wanted to marry it!

The good news is that you can order regular weekly meals from her magical team and make any weekday a party or host your own soiree for all your friends!

Now back to my friend! It was so special to bear witness to her life. She is a great connector of people and we are glad to be called her friends. We were surrounded by her parents and long-time friends that had known her for decades. We got to listen to stories that we hadn’t heard before and saw our friend celebrated in such a special way. There were toasts and songs. Like Bilbo Baggins, she gave us presents and the entire evening truly felt like a foretaste of our heavenly feast to come! SM

Her favorite mixed drink is a Gin and Tonic so we made that the cocktail of the evening!

I may have known the flower lady…..

A Not So Secret Garden In The City

Steve and Linda have worked hard to make a lovely home for themselves. They hired out Cite Design to make a plan for their hardscape and then Steve did the actual labor to install it. Bluestone and brick are surrounded by a fence he built of wood and metal that work beautifully with the period of the house. He has uplighting and irrigation-two very important details that make any garden stand out. Steve wanted to make a fountain in the side yard and repurposed a metal frog that he gave to Linda 10 years ago. The frog spits into a bowl and has now been upgraded to his forever home! Part of what made this install so fun was seeing the quality of Steve’s work because it is so inspiring. I was honored when they asked me to make a garden for the edges of their patio. I am also lucky enough to do the maintenance on this garden, so I literally get to watch it grow!

Here’s what we started with:

Steve tore out the existing butterfly bush for me because it could not be trusted to keep its shape. Butterfly bushes are beautiful but they can be unruly. Steve dug in the hardscape of the fountain and I did the plantings around it. We decided to remove the existing planters and create a cohesive look with new planters that were similar in shape and color.

Here’s a look at the progression of the right side corner. There is some type of internet wire access point under that green rectangle that a technician may need to get to, so I picked out a large planter that they could move if needed. When I first planted everything it looked little and muddy. I placed a large mock orange in the planter with petunias tucked in. The fifth picture shows just how much change had happened in a few months.

This area needed more of a frame work to hide storage but the gutter/pole only created a a small opening and the door behind still needed to be accessed. I brought in 2 planters that matched the others and an obelisk (hard to see in the photos), from Plow and Hearth. The idea is for the double blooming Duchess of Edinburgh Clematis to climb up the obelisk and up the post. It’s not seen in the photo because it takes longer to establish than the annuals seen below.

The only thing else that gorgeous fence needed was some trellises and white climbing roses! I went with black wrought iron to play off the black planters. We flanked one trellis with 2 poly wood Adirondack chairs the owners already had. They face the built-in grill Steve made. These shots also show off the gas fire pit he made as well.

And now for the fountain reveal! This frog makes me think of Beatrix Potter’s character Jeremy Fisher, a wee frog who wears a macintosh and almost gets eaten by a fish. I found a wall fountain planter that fit the dimensions of the brick alcove and planted a mix of shade loving annuals and perennials. The frog fountain is fully operable and even has a light that changes color on it at night!. I look forward to continue watching this garden mature and get lovelier each year! SM

Woodland Fairy Party for Lucy

Lucy is the cutest 5 year old I know right now. She is part of our school co-op tribe and the youngest of our bunch. We go to Larus Park every Monday, rain, snow, or shine to run our kids and let them play in the woods. There are no play structures just trees and teepees made out of branches. The moms sit within earshot and forest bathe hoping to find a break as we talk with each other. When Lucy’s 5th birthday rolled around and that wee one just wanted a fairy party we knew we had to make it happen and do it at Larus! Many thanks to the moms and Alex for helping me haul this stuff in and out of the woods!

Lucy’s grandma sent her this dress for the party!

The entire Burton family got involved making these giant flowers with pool noodles and crepe paper. They thrive on intricate amazing projects!

It was so fun to get to create this fairy scape with good friends for a darling girl!